By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The roads to hometowns for the Lunar New Year's Day holiday are expected to be icy as snow will continue to fall and temperatures will drop below zero.
The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said Thursday that the surprise snowfall caught commuters in Seoul off guard, but traffic congestion was not too severe as the snow melted as it fell.
The weather agency posted a snow alert in Seoul. Heavy snow is expected for mountainous areas in Gangwon Province, such as Daegwallyeong; and heavy snow alerts have been given for Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces along with other southern areas.
The snowfall marked 66 centimeters in Daegwallyeong, while Seoul and Incheon saw a relatively moderate 5.5 centimeters Thursday morning.
The agency said low atmospheric pressure passing over the Korean Peninsula was responsible for the snow. "The amount of snow in the urban areas will not be as large as the storm that hit Seoul in January, dumping 25.6 centimeters of snow.
"But even rain in the southern region could easily turn ice, making roads slippery and dangerous," the KMA said.
From early Thursday morning, traffic in central Seoul was slowed to a crawl due to the snow.
Seoul City, which faced huge criticism for conducting its delayed response to the "snow bomb" last month, said it has raised its alert level to the second highest.
"We are expecting extreme congestion on highways and main roads from this afternoon as many people will be heading to their hometowns," a city official said.