SEOUL – The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that a weather warning will remain in effect as the temperature dropped to as low as minus 12 deg C on Dec 17.
“The lowest temperature on Saturday was recorded at minus 3.6 deg C and the lowest temperature from Sunday morning was minus 12 deg C, 8.4 deg C lower than the previous day,” said the Seoul Metropolitan Government in a press release.
“The city government decided to keep the cold-wave watch issued on Saturday to counter possible damage that could arise due to the sudden low temperatures.”
In Seoul, temperatures on Dec 17 reached minus 12 deg C, with highs of up to minus 6 deg C.
The Korea Meteorological Administration also forecast that while temperatures will begin to crawl back up after Dec 17, the lowest temperatures on Dec 18 and 19 would still be in the negatives.
On those two days, temperatures could hit lows of minus 11 deg C and minus 6 deg C, with highs of minus 2 deg C and 3 deg C, respectively.
From Dec 16, the Seoul government began to operate situation rooms with 25 other district offices. Currently, 197 24-hour safety personnel are on standby until further notice.
For vulnerable groups such as homeless individuals, older adults living alone and residents of “jjokbang” or subdivided one-room dwellings, the city government has provided temporary shelter, checked the safety of such vulnerable individuals and provided free meals.
Additionally, 3,890 facilities to counter the cold weather have been installed across the city, including windproof tents and heated benches in places with high foot traffic, such as crosswalks and bus stops.
While no injuries were reported at the weekend, three government water meters in Seoul suffered damage due to the cold weather.
Meanwhile, there were several other reports of damage due to the cold weather outside of Seoul at the weekend.
On Dec 16 at 10pm, cracks were discovered on an outer window of a KTX-Sancheon train heading towards Gwangmyeong Station from Cheonan-Asan Station. As KTX trains are equipped with inner and outer windows, no passengers were injured.
From Dec 16 until 9am the next day, 28 reports of damage due to strong winds were reported to the Incheon Fire Department, including building facades being torn down and rooftop structures being blown away.
At the weekend, wind gusts in Incheon reached speeds as high as 18.5m per second.
Average morning temperatures in South Korea on Dec 18 are expected to range between minus 18 deg C and minus deg 3 C. In comparison, the maximum temperatures are expected to range from minus 4 deg C to 4 deg C.
Temperatures in metropolitan areas and the central region will be below zero, even during the day. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
