From T-shirts to padded jackets: Why Korea's October weather swung so wildly
Koreans went from wearing short sleeves to pulling out padded winter jackets last month as temperatures swung dramatically between summer-like heat and early winter chills. The reason, meteorologists say, was a massive high-pressure system thousands of kilometers away over Russia's Ural Mountains. The atmospheric phenomenon, known as "Ural blocking," disrupted the usual flow of weather systems,…
Korea experienced wildly fluctuating temperatures in October, ranging from summer-like warmth to early winter chill. Meteorologists attribute this dramatic weather shift to a massive high-pressure system, dubbed "Ural blocking," located over Russia's Ural Mountains. This atmospheric phenomenon disrupted the typical weather flow, allowing cold Arctic air to move south towards the Korean Peninsula.
Scientists suggest that rapid Arctic warming might have intensified this disruption by weakening the jet stream, which usually keeps frigid air confined to higher latitudes. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) reported on October's climate on Wednesday, highlighting the month's extreme temperature variability as its main feature.
Nationwide, daily average temperatures fluctuated by 14 degrees Celsius, the fourth-largest October variation on record. On October 12, the average temperature rose to 22.1 degrees, but by October 28, it plummeted to 8.1 degrees.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
