Published : Aug. 18, 2016 - 16:41
South Korea’s abnormal heat wave that has been ongoing since July will come to an end this weekend, the state weather agency said Thursday.
The Korea Meteorological Administration said that the heat will subside at the end of the week and the tropical night phenomena will also diminish.
The temperatures are expected to cool off as sporadic rain is set to hit central regions such as Gangwon Province, with some parts of the peninsula expected to get as much as 50 millimeters of precipitation over the weekend.
However, high temperatures will continue for the next few days, with the southern regions receiving a heat wave advisory warning as of Thursday afternoon.
On Thursday, the temperature hit 34 degrees Celsius in Seoul, Gwangju and Daegu.
The KMA predicted daily highs will hit the low 30s starting next week and will fall to 29 degrees Celsius by the end of August.
A trainee at Gyeonggi-do Fire Service Academy is showered with water to cool off from heat at Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
But the high daytime temperatures and humid weather will drag on until mid-September, it said.
According to the KMA, this month recorded an average temperature of 29.8 degrees Celsius, the highest since the country started documenting temperatures in 1907.
The southern port city Busan also saw a record-high temperature of 37.3 degrees Celsius last week.
The KMA said Seoul saw a total of 16 days stricken by the heat wave since June 1, the highest number since 29 days were observed in 1994.
Heat wave days are classified as when the daytime high reaches over 33 degrees Celsius.
The past month has witnessed an almost continuous tropical night phenomena, with a nighttime low of over 25 degrees Celsius.
By Kim Da-sol(
ddd@heraldcorp.com)