Up to 250mm of rain expected in Seoul metropolitan area

As the rainy season draws to a close, up to 250mm of rain is expected to fall in Seoul and other metropolitan areas on Wednesday and Thursday, marking the heaviest rainfall of this season. The Korea Meteorological Administration predicts this will be the peak rainfall in the Seoul metropolitan area for this rainy season.

On Tuesday, the Korea Meteorological Administration reported that rain had poured down on South Korea's southern coast, including South Jeolla Province, since flooding many residential and commercial areas the previous night. Heavy rains of 103.5mm per hour fell in Jindo County, South Jeolla Province, and 78.3mm per hour in Haenam County, setting a new record for hourly precipitation in July.

Although the major seasonal rain front has been gradually weakening, the low pressure from the west is expected to continue northeasterly progression and cross the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday and Thursday. This is anticipated to reactivate the seasonal rain front, which will be joined by the lower jet stream, bringing plenty of water vapor and causing heavy rainfall across the central region.

The Korea Meteorological Administration predicts that the seasonal rain front passing through the central region, including the Seoul metropolitan area, on Wednesday and Thursday is likely to resemble the rain clouds that dumped up to 146mm of rain per hour in North Jeolla Province on July 10. This front is thin in the north-south direction and elongated in the east-west direction, which is likely to result in record rainfall over a very small area in a short period.


Sung-Jin Park psjin@donga.com