Heat wave warning issued for Seoul, many parts of S. Korea

A heat wave warning was issued for Seoul and many other parts of the country Monday, the state weather agency said, forecasting daytime highs of up to 36 C for the rest of the week.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said it has issued the heat wave warning for all of Seoul and many areas in the central provinces of Gyeonggi, Gangwon and Chungcheong, as well as the southwestern provinces of Jeolla, as of 10 a.m.

Such a warning is issued when sensible temperatures are expected to exceed 35 C for two or more days.

The KMA put other parts of the country, including most of the southeastern provinces of Gyeongsang, under a heat wave advisory, which is issued when sensible temperatures are expected to exceed 33 C for two or more days.

It also forecast rain for South Jeolla Province, western parts of South Gyeongsang Province and Jeju Island and rain showers accompanied by gusts of wind and thunder and lightning for other parts of the nation.

On Monday afternoon, Seoul and some cities in the central regions were put under a heavy rain advisory, as three-hour precipitation was expected to exceed 60 millimeters or 12-hour precipitation was expected to top 110 mm.

Regardless of rain showers, however, the heat wave warning remained in effect throughout Seoul, the KMA said, forecasting that the areas where showers occur will increase as rising daytime temperatures push up atmospheric instability.

The agency said daily highs nationwide will range from 31 C to 36 C for the rest of the week, while forecasting the peninsula may be hit by a so-called heat dome phenomenon, which refers to vast areas of sweltering heat that gets trapped under the high pressure dome.

However, the KMA said it remains unclear how serious the heat dome phenomenon will get or how long it will persist. (Yonhap)