Season's strongest cold wave causes traffic, daily life chaos

The runway operations are halted at Jeju International Airport on the southern resort island due to heavy snow on Dec. 22. Yonhap

The season's strongest cold wave peaked on Friday morning, bringing down morning lows to below minus 20 Celsius in some Gangwon Province areas, causing traffic and daily life disruptions nationwide and blanketing the southern resort island of Jeju and western coast with heavy snow.

The mercury plummeted to minus 14.7 C in Seoul as of 7:32 a.m. and many other regions recorded far lower minimum temperatures than the capital, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Hwacheon of Gangwon Province, ast of Seoul, registered minus 21.5 C, followed by minus 19.2 C in Seocheon of the central province of South Chungcheong, and minus 19 C in Paju, just north of Seoul, the agency noted.

Strong winds with instantaneous speeds of over 55 kph, or 15 mps, reinforced the feeling of cold in most regions.

A heavy snow advisory was in effect for Jeju, western coastal areas of South Chungcheong and the southwestern provinces of Jeolla as of 8 a.m.

On Jeju Island, which received more than 30.2 centimeters of snow over the past day, Jeju International Airport completely suspended its runway operations Friday morning.

The regional airport authority said the suspension of the Jeju airport's runway operations was extended to 1 p.m. due to heavy snowfall and snow removal work. As of 10 a.m., 77 flights to and from the Jeju airport were canceled.

Western coastal regions also recorded snowfall of up to 60 cm until Friday morning, the KMA said, adding snow will continue there until early Saturday morning. (Yonhap)

A man looks on a greenhous that was destroyed by a snowstorm in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Friday. Yonhap