Temperatures rise above 41 C in southeast amid intense heat wave

Citizens cool off in a fountain in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday, as the temperature climbed to 41.4 degrees Celsius. Yonhap

Temperatures surpassed 41 C in the southeastern city of Yangsan on Friday, setting a new record as a scorching heat wave continued to grip the nation, the state weather agency said.

The mercury reached 41.4 C in Yangsan, about 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 1:40 p.m., marking the highest temperature since local weather observation began in 2008, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

It marks the highest-ever reading when considering only the 97 weather observation sites operated by the KMA, surpassing the previous record of 41 C set in the central county of Hongcheon on Aug. 1, 2018.

For the entire nation, the reading is just short of the all-time record of 41.9 C, also posted on Aug. 1, 2018, in Gwangju, just south of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, which is not among the 97 sites operated by the KMA.

The record high reading for Yangsan, however, comes after temperatures there reached 40.3 C for two consecutive days on Wednesday and Thursday.

It marked the third time the temperatures remained above 40 C for three straight days in any given area since the country established a nationwide weather observation network in 1973, the agency said.