{
  "id": 18101560,
  "title": "From T-shirts to padded jackets: Why Korea's October weather swung so wildly",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/04/from-t-shirts-to-padded-jackets-why-koreas-october-weather-swung-so-18101560",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-04T09:57:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/environment-animals/20261104/from-t-shirts-to-padded-jackets-why-koreas-october-weather-swung-so-wildly"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Korean weather in October 2023 took an unusually erratic turn, with residents swapping short-sleeved shirts for padded winter jackets in a matter of days. Meteorologists attribute this dramatic shift to a powerful, high-pressure system known as \"Ural blocking\" that originated thousands of kilometers away over Russia's Ural Mountains. This atmospheric phenomenon disrupted normal weather patterns, allowing frigid Arctic air to flow south towards the Korean Peninsula.\n\nScientists suggest that rapid warming in the Arctic might have exacerbated the disruption by weakening the jet stream, which typically keeps cold air confined to higher latitudes. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) released a report on October 29, 2023, highlighting October's defining characteristic: extreme temperature variability. The difference between the highest and lowest daily average temperatures across the country reached 14 degrees Celsius, marking the fourth-largest fluctuation in October on record.\n\nOn October 12, the average temperature nationwide was a relatively balmy 22.1 degrees Celsius. However, by October 28, this had plummeted to a chilling 8.1 degrees Celsius.",
  "summary": "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,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}