Cold wave advisories issued with chilly, windy start of the week

Cold wave advisories were issued for some regions by the national weather agency on Sunday as morning lows in the upcoming week were expected to dip below freezing.

Pedestrians walk along the stone wall surrounding Deoksu Palace in Jung District, central Seoul, on Sunday when daily morning lows were recorded around four to 15 degrees Celsius. [YONHAP]

Cold wave advisories were issued for some regions by the national weather agency on Sunday as morning lows in the upcoming week were expected to dip below freezing.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said the country will experience a relatively cold and windy week starting Sunday afternoon after light rain dampened some regions on Saturday.

Cold wave advisories will be in effect in some regions in Gangwon, inland Chungcheong, Jeolla provinces, South Gyeongsang and Jeju Island starting at 8 p.m. on Sunday.

A cold wave advisory is issued when the morning low is expected to remain at minus 12 degrees Celsius (10.4 Fahrenheit) or lower for at least two consecutive days or the morning low is expected to drop by more than 10 degrees Celsius from the previous day to 3 degrees Celsius or lower.

On Monday morning, the country will experience a significant overnight temperature drop, with the mercury plummeting to minus five or four degrees Celsius from Sunday’s four to 15 degrees Celsius. Tuesday’s daily lows will be minus four to seven degrees Celsius nationwide.

Monday’s daytime highs will be around six to 13 degrees Celsius, slightly lower than Sunday’s daytime highs of 10 to 17 degrees Celsius. Tuesday’s daytime highs are forecast to be around eight to 15 degrees Celsius.

In particular, Seoul's morning low is expected to hit minus two degrees Celsius, with a daytime high of six degrees Celsius. The greater Seoul area — encompassing Incheon and Gyeonggi — will likely see a daily low between minus four and zero degrees Celsius, with a daytime high hovering around six to eight degrees Celsius.

The KMA also advised people to take safety precautions as frost could appear in inland and mountainous regions between Monday and Tuesday.

The KMA said the temperature will climb on Wednesday, with morning temperatures between minus one and eight degrees Celsius.

Along with cold wave advisories, strong wind advisories were issued for the western shorelines of Gyeonggi, Incheon, South Cheongcheong, the Jeolla provinces and all of Jeju Island.

The instantaneous wind speed will be 55 kilometers (34 miles) per hour — equivalent to 15 meters (49 feet) per second — across the country through Monday, said the KMA. The agency said strong winds would continue until Tuesday on Jeju Island, with an instantaneous wind speed of over 70 kilometers per hour.

The strong wind advisories are expected to be lifted late Monday for Incheon, Gyeonggi, South Chungcheong and North Jeolla and Tuesday for South Jeolla and Jeju Island.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, CHO MOON-GYU [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]