By Lee Hyo-sik
Seoul and its surrounding areas will receive up to 250 millimeters of rain through Friday, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said Wednesday.
In particular, up to 60 millimeters of rain per hour could fall between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, accompanied by lightning and thunder.
“We advise people to keep getting updates on the latest weather information. We caution those who are camping to pay extra attention to rapidly changing conditions,” a KMA official said.
Residents in the central region should take all possible preventative measures to minimize casualties and property damage from potential flooding and mudslides, he said.
Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces have been bombarded with record rainfall since Tuesday afternoon, with heavy rains submerging roads built along rivers and disrupting the operation of subways and other public transportation. Hundreds of homes and buildings located in low-lying districts were flooded.
The weather agency attributed the recent strong downpour to a collision between low and high pressure systems over the country’s central region.
“Strong rain clouds have formed over Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces. Hot, humid air originating from a high pressure system in the Pacific Ocean collided with cold air blowing from a low pressure system in the West Sea, making the atmosphere extremely unstable and forming the rain clouds,” the KMA official said.
The rain front has become stationary over the central region for an extended period of time, concentrating the torrential downpour there, as another high pressure system northeast of the Korean Peninsula blocks the front from moving east, the official said.