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Bone-chilling weather grips nation
A road on Jeju Island is blocked by local police on Tuesday due to extreme weather conditions. The screen in the background reads that small and large vehicles are banned from traveling on Road 1100. Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
Seoul's temperature dips below minus 17 degrees Celsius with wind chill of minus 24
By Ko Dong-hwan
“It feels like we're in Siberia,” numerous weather reports claimed Tuesday. This isn't a big exaggeration, as the blustering northwesterly winds from the brutally cold Russian territory hit the Korean Peninsula hard, plunging the entire country into frigid conditions.
Tuesday marks the coldest day recorded in Korea so far this winter, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the state weather agency.
Northern areas of South Korea across Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces saw the mercury drop especially low. The mountainous northeastern border county of Cheorwon in Gangwon Province recorded minus 17.4 degrees Celsius but the wind chill factor made it feel like minus 25 degrees Celsius. Paju and Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province reached minus 24 and minus 26 degrees Celsius, respectively, while in Seoul the wind chill factor was minus 24 degrees Celsius. Most regions within the provincial borders were forecast to see the lowest temperatures of the season so far throughout Tuesday.
The cold wave was so far-reaching that even Jeju Island, situated south of the peninsula and known for its relatively warm climate, dipped below minus 1 degrees Celsius with a wind chill factor of minus 10 degrees Celsius.
Broken power meters due to the extreme cold are gathered at Seoul Facilities Corp.'s central public water system management office in Jongno District, Tuesday. Yonhap
The cold shrouded the country rather suddenly, as temperatures mostly dropped by more than 10 degrees Celsius from the previous day. Cheorwon dropped by 16 degrees Celsius, Dongducheon by 14 degrees Celsius, Paju by 15 degrees Celsius and Seoul by 17 degrees Celsius. The abrupt change prompted the KMA to issue warnings throughout the nation. People in many regions also received blizzard alerts.
The most dramatic weather conditions were on Jeju Island, where all flights and ships connecting to the country's mainland and neighboring countries had to be canceled for the day.
The cancellations stranded outbound travelers hoping to leave the island on the last day of the country's Lunar New Year long weekend that ended the same day. The travel hotspot is always busy with tourists but especially booms during the nation's two main holiday periods ― Lunar New Year and Chuseok ― when a mass holiday migration around the country usually results in traffic jams and travel congestion.
Jeju International Airport was filled with tens of thousands of travelers as flights for over 8 different domestic routes were canceled. A total 233 flights were prevented from departing the island, stranding over 43,000 passengers. At the same time, 233 scheduled inbound flights were also canceled. Ten international flights to or from the island have also been delayed indefinitely.
Over 110 cruise ships servicing 86 routes to and from the island were also cut off, according to the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority on Tuesday.
Flights departing from Jeju International Airport to cities on the Korean mainland are canceled, Tuesday. Yonhap
“Exceptionally heavy snow will continue in the Jeolla provinces and Jeju Island until tomorrow morning,” the KMA said Tuesday. “We advise the public to refrain from going outside and for those with medical conditions to take special care. Water pipes and heating systems should also be monitored for issues and care should be taken to prevent farm crops and livestock from freezing.”
The extreme climate has put the country's energy ministry on alert, with electricity and heating usage expected to skyrocket across the nation. Second Vice Minister of Energy Park Il-joon visited a power plant and a substation in Seoul on Tuesday to check whether the infrastructure can meet elevated demand for energy that was expected to be heightened on Tuesday as well as Wednesday when the majority of the country's workforce returns to their jobs after the long weekend.
Power demands in the country tends to rise sharply following every Lunar New Year holiday, according to the ministry. Last year, the total power usage in the country on the last day of the holiday was recorded at 63.8 gigawatts, and it rose to almost 79 gigawatts the following day.
The KMA said temperatures will rise to average winter levels across the country starting Wednesday afternoon.