People wearing winter jackets are seen in central Seoul on Oct. 29.NEWS1
Seoul recorded its first frost of the season on Thursday as chilly autumn weather persisted, before another cold spell and rainfall are expected over the weekend.
The season's first frost was observed Thursday at a city weather observation site in Jongno District, central Seoul, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). The frost arrived one day later than both last year and the 1991 to 2020 historical average.
Rain began falling across central Korea on Thursday morning. Rain clouds are expected to move rapidly southward and drench Chungcheong and southern regions by the afternoon.
The rain is forecast to clear Friday, and temperatures are expected to rise briefly before another round of colder weather arrives over the weekend.
"Relatively cold air will move south from the northwest again over the weekend, and it will bring temperatures down," said Lee Gwang-yeon, a forecast analyst at the KMA, during a regular briefing Thursday. "Cold, dry air will continue to dominate afterward, and temperatures next week are expected to remain near or below seasonal averages."
In Seoul, morning lows are forecast to rise to 9 degrees Celsius (48.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday before dropping to 7 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
Skies will remain mostly clear, but the difference between daytime highs and overnight lows could exceed 10 degrees Celsius.
Another round of rain is forecast to sweep across the country beginning Sunday afternoon. Rain is expected to begin in western regions late Sunday afternoon before spreading nationwide by nightfall. Showers will likely continue across southern regions on Monday morning before gradually tapering off.
"Rainfall is currently expected to be concentrated in southern regions," Lee said. "However, the areas affected, rainfall amounts and timing could change depending on how strongly a trough of low pressure to the north interacts with a low-pressure system approaching from the west.”
Typhoon In-fa, the season's 31st typhoon, is strengthening as it moves across the western Pacific.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, the storm was traveling west at 32 kilometers (19.9 miles) per hour over waters approximately 1,100 kilometers east-northeast of Guam. In-fa is forecast to intensify into a Category 5 super typhoon, the highest classification, by Friday.
The storm is expected to approach waters near Okinawa, Japan, early next month. However, it is likely to turn eastward afterward, which reduces the likelihood of a direct impact on Korea.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
