my timesThe Korea Times
  1. South Korea
  2. Environment & Animals

Korea experiences 5th warmest Oct. this year

Listen
By Yonhap
  • Published Nov 4, 2026 5:23 pm KST
Pedestrians walk along a trail covered with fallen leaves at Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap

Pedestrians walk along a trail covered with fallen leaves at Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap

Korea's average temperature reached 15.8 C last month, 1.5 C higher than the average for October, marking the fifth warmest October since 1973, the state weather agency said Wednesday.

Korea saw unusually high temperatures from Oct. 10-13 as warm air moved in from the south, with Seoul's daily high reaching 30.1 C on Oct. 12, the highest October temperature since modern weather observation began in 1907, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

Such high temperatures pushed the month's average up to 15.8 C, compared with the average temperature of 14.3 C from 1991 to 2022. This marks the fifth-highest nationwide mean temperature recorded for October since 1973 when weather observation networks were expanded to the entire nation.

Temperatures also fluctuated sharply throughout the month as cold and warm air masses alternately flowed over the peninsula, driven by smooth atmospheric flows moving from west to east in the mid-latitudes.

The nationwide daily mean temperature dropped from 19.8 C on Oct. 18 to 9.8 C on Oct. 22. It rebounded to 16.9 C three days later before dropping again to 8.1 C on Oct. 28.