Commuters scramble as arctic cold strikes Korean Peninsula

Snow hit Korea overnight, causing commuting chaos in the greater Seoul area on Wednesday morning. Local governments are preparing emergency measures as the nation braces for this season’s strongest cold wave on Thursday and Friday.

A person walks in snowy Gwangnaru Hangang Park in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on Wednesday. Seoul was issued with its first cold wave warning of the season, with morning lows anticipated to dip to as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Farenheit) on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Snow hit Korea overnight, causing commuting chaos in the greater Seoul area on Wednesday morning. Local governments are preparing emergency measures as the nation braces for this season’s strongest cold wave on Thursday and Friday.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), morning lows on Thursday and Friday nationwide will plunge by 5 to 10 degrees Celsius compared to Wednesday as an arctic cold wave grips the peninsula. A cold wave warning in Seoul is set to be issued for 9 p.m. Wednesday for the first time this season as temperatures in the capital are expected to plummet to as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday.

A cold wave warning is issued when the morning low falls below minus 15 degrees Celsius for more than two consecutive days or when the temperature drops more than 15 degrees Celsius to below minus 3 degrees Celsius.

On Wednesday, the capital saw some 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) of snow overnight. Commuters who ditched their cars and took the subway due to icy roads arrived late to their workplaces as subway platforms were overcrowded.

“I had to let three trains pass,” a 30-year-old office worker told the JoongAng Ilbo at Sadang Station in southern Seoul on Wednesday morning. “There will be heavy traffic, but I plan to take a taxi after work because so many people are taking the subway.”

The Seoul Metropolitan government began an emergency work shift for snow removal at 1 p.m. Tuesday, dispatching 1,160 snowplows across the capital.

But many roads were still icy from the snow that piled overnight.

“I had a hard time walking down small alleyways in my neighborhood as the roads were still icy in the morning,” a resident in her 70s living in Seocho District, southern Seoul, told the Korea JoongAng Daily Wednesday morning, adding that she plans to stay indoors as she is afraid of walking outside and hurting herself during such extreme weather.

On Wednesday, the KMA urged drivers to exercise caution on icy roads from the snow and low temperatures. It also asked people to take care against strong gusts and snow.

The wind chill in Seoul will nosedive to as low as minus 21 degrees Celsius and as low as minus 26 degrees Celsius in Yangju, Gyeonggi, and northern Gangwon on Thursday.

People in puffers walk on the road in Daegu on Wednesday as an arctic cold wave grips the country. [NEWS1]

The horrendous winter weather across the country will peak Friday as the cold Arctic air continues to descend. The cold wave will continue through the weekend, with temperatures recovering to the annual average around Christmas eve on Sunday, the KMA said.

Heavy snow will continue on the west coast of South Chungcheong, parts of Jeolla, and Jeju through Friday. These areas were issued with a heavy snow watch as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, expecting as much as 30 centimeters of snow to accumulate through Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Seoul city government issued the third-highest alert of its four-tier system to prevent water gauges from freezing and bursting for Thursday through Saturday. The alert is issued when there is a risk of water meters freezing and bursting due to daily lows dropping below minus 10 degrees Celsius for more than two consecutive days.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, KIM MIN-JEONG [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]