Mount Seorak welcomes first fall foliage

The season's first fall foliage appeared on Mount Seorak in Gangwon Province on Monday.

The Gangwon Regional Meteorological Administration said it recorded the season's first fall foliage on the 1,708-meter mountain. This year's arrival came four days earlier than last year and matched the long-term average date. Weather authorities define "first foliage" as the point when about 20 percent of a mountain's decidous leaves change color, from the summit downward.

Fall foliage on Mount Seorak is projected to reach its peak in mid-to-late October. Peak color occurs when approximately 80 percent of the foliage on a mountain has turned color. Foliage peaked on Oct. 24 last year, compared with the long-term average of Oct. 17. The color change is expected to accelerate as cold air moves down from the north late this week, dropping morning lows nationwide into single digits starting Thursday. The agency forecast morning lows of 6 to 17 degrees Celsius and daytime highs of 20 to 24 degrees nationwide from Thursday through Saturday.

Visitors can check current foliage conditions for 21 major mountains nationwide on the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) weather website. The portal provides photographs taken before the leaves change, as they turn and at peak color. The provincial agency also provides current foliage conditions, weather information and live video across national park trails in Gangwon Province — including Mount Seorak, Mount Odae, Mount Chiak, and Mount Taebaek — through its Gangwon Foliage and Weather Service.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.