Korea Looks Forward to White Christmas

Published on 2012/12/24 | Source

A cold snap gripped central inland regions with morning lows four to seven degrees Celsius lower on Monday than the previous day. Due to the wind chill factor, Seoul and some inland areas saw temperatures dip to what feels like -20 degrees.

Frigid cold weather hit the country as a cold Siberian anticyclone spread to skies over the Korean Peninsula, said weatherman Chang Hyun-sik.

He added temperatures will ease to some extent on Christmas day, only for the unrelenting chill to return on Wednesday and Thursday.

The morning low in Seoul was forecast at -13 degrees for Monday, way lower than even Sunday's -9.2 degrees. Strong winds blew at speeds of 3-4 m/s.

Snow will begin to fall in Seoul, on the west coast of Gyeonggi Province on late Monday night, and in central parts on early Christmas morning, except in the eastern part of Gangwon Province. A KMA official promised "a chance" of a white Christmas.