By Nam Hyun-woo
The weather has been very changeable this summer, causing many people to wonder whether the country’s climate is becoming subtropical.
On Monday around noon, after the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the country’s weather agency, forecast a scorching sunny day in Seoul, citizens faced isolated thunderstorms with heavy showers in the midst of clear skies.
Since the KMA had also forecast that the unusually long monsoon season was finally over, most people were not carrying umbrellas and had to shelter from the abrupt rain under the awnings of nearby shops.
A resident, surnamed Kim, said, “It’s really a problem deciding whether to take an umbrella every morning. Whenever I did not take one to the office, it always rained.”
According to the KMA, Monday’s rain was localized showers produced by a North Pacific high, not an extension of the monsoon, which lasted for 49 days, the longest period recorded since the agency began collecting data.
“The end of the monsoon season is usually followed by localized showers produced by convective instability in Korea,” said an official at the KMA.
The official said, “The unpredictable weather conditions, such as sudden changes between scorching heat and drizzling rain, resemble squalls usually observed in subtropical regions.”
“However, various factors constitute a region’s climate. Since Korea still has four distinguishable seasons, it is too early to conclude that Korean climate is subtropical,” he said.