Cold, cloudy weather to continue for Korea this weekend

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) on Friday, morning lows in the country's central areas, parts of North Jeolla and North Gyeongsang will drop below freezing.

A passerby walks outside in the cold weather in Jongno District, downtown Seoul, on Friday. Snow and rain fell across the peninsula the day before, with Seoul seeing 13 centimeters (5 inches) of snow Thursday morning. [NEWS1]

Korea is forecast to see cold and cloudy weather over the weekend.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) on Friday, morning lows in the country's central areas, parts of North Jeolla and North Gyeongsang will drop below freezing.

In Seoul, the morning low on Saturday will drop to minus 2 degrees Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit), with the windchill plummeting to as low as minus 5 degrees Celsius.

The central inland area, including Gyeonggi’s Yeoncheon County and Pocheon, may experience morning lows as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius. Midday highs in the capital are expected to hover around 6 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

The KMA warned of possible road ice formations in snow-accumulated areas as temperatures drop.

The mercury is expected to rise slightly on Sunday, with Seoul’s morning low increasing to 1 degree Celsius. Midday highs will hover around 7 degrees Celsius.

Nationwide, midday highs will range between 5 to 11 degrees Celsius, on par with annual average temperatures.

Southern regions may experience rain over the weekend. Jeju Island is expected to receive between 5 to 30 millimeters (0.2 to 1.2 inches) of rain on Saturday. In South Jeolla, around 5 millimeters of rain are anticipated to fall from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning.

The weather agency added that observing the full moon on Saturday might be difficult due to obscured views.

"Those in parts of the central region may be able to see the moon hidden between clouds," a KMA official said.

The first full moon of the lunar year is expected to rise at around 6:03 p.m. Saturday in Seoul, according to the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.

BY CHUN KWON-PIL, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]