Monsoon season ends, humid heat wave begins

Soldiers perform restoration work in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, Wednesday. (Yonhap)

The monsoon season officially ended across all regions of Korea as of Wednesday, paving the way for a period of intense humidity and heat wave conditions, according to the weather agency.

As Typhoon Doksuri heads north, the edge of the North Pacific high expanded north, pushing away the stationary front. The monsoon season of the central and southern region of the peninsula ended Wednesday, after the monsoon season on Jeju Island ended a day earlier, the Korea Meteorological Administration said in a briefing Wednesday.

Compared to the average end dates of the monsoon season -- July 20 on Jeju, July 24 in the southern region and July 26 in the central region of the peninsula -- this year's season ended relatively late on Jeju Island, but as usual in the rest of the country. However, the Korea Meteorological Administration said that the end date of the rainy season could change after later reanalysis.

Now that the rainy season has ended, Korea will be affected by high pressure for a while, as hot weather continues. Due to high humidity concentrated during the monsoon period, sensory temperatures will be higher than the actual temperature.

Even after the rainy season, local torrential rains could fall again, the KMA added. Last year, on Aug. 8 heavy rain fell at a rate of 141.5 millimeters per hour, causing flooding in Seoul. This happened even after the official end to the monsoon season.

“Due to El Nino, a lot of water vapor is expected to be supplied to the southern part of Korea this year, so we have to prepare for various rain damage in August,” said the KMA official.

By Lee Jung-youn(jy@heraldcorp.com)