This cold wave was really strong.

On the 25th, when the cold wave reached its peak, the temperature in Seoul recorded -17.3℃ and in Cheorwon -21.9℃.

In fact, Seoul and Cheorwon are relatively cold towns.

The official lowest temperature in Seoul is -22.5℃ in 1931.

But this time, the cold in the southern regions was relatively severe.



Geoje Island's temperature dropped to -10.4℃, recording the coldest weather in Geoje meteorological observation history (joint first place in 2011).

In the case of Ulsan, it was -13.6℃, ​​and in Yeosu, -11.4℃, it was the second coldest ever.

It is unusual for an extreme cold wave to reach the southern region.



The difference in temperature between months is too great.

In the case of Daejeon, the temperature rose to 15.4℃ on the 12th, and the spring weather came.

However, on the 25th, the temperature dropped to minus 17.7℃.

In just two weeks, the temperature dropped by 33 degrees Celsius.


how long will it be cold


The form of this cold wave is usually called 'Arctic Cold Wave'.

Cold air from the North Pole passed through Russia and eastern China to Korea, and Japan also suffered heavy snowfall due to a cold wave.

This happened because the continental high pressure created on the Chinese mainland rotated like a top, bringing cold air from the north to the south.



Although less intense than on the 25th, the continental high pressure is still pushing northern air into the Korean Peninsula.

Today (the 28th), strong cold around 10 degrees below zero continues.

The weather will be clear on Sunday, but colder-than-average weather is expected to continue until early February.

Why is this?


Arctic cold waves are a common phenomenon.

What has changed is that it is becoming more frequent and stronger.

The cold air from the North Pole is usually blocked by strong jet streams (westerly winds) and does not come down to Korea.

But when the jet stream weakens, the arctic air descends southward.



The jet stream becomes stronger as the temperature difference between the south and north increases.

To put it simply, when the North Pole is cold and the equator is warm, westerly winds are strong.

But as the Arctic gets warmer, the temperature difference between the south and the south is shrinking, and the jet stream is weakening.

It is a paradoxical situation that a cold wave appears in Korea due to the high temperature of the Arctic.


explain a bit more


The biggest problem is that Arctic temperatures are rising the fastest on the planet.



The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has analyzed that since 1981, the average global temperature has risen by 0.18°C per decade.

But last year's study, The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979, conducted by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, found that the average temperature in the Arctic is rising four times faster than the global average.



The study analyzed that the rate of temperature increase in the Arctic Ocean region between 1979 and 2021 increased by 0.75 ℃ every 10 years, which is about 3.8 times and 4 times the global average.



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