The late-arriving summer monsoon is expected to spread nationwide this weekend, with rain continuing through early next week. Heavy rain accompanied by gusts, thunder and lightning is forecast for some southern regions, prompting the need for caution over facility management and safety accidents.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Friday, rain falling mainly across southern regions including the Jeolla and South Gyeongsang provinces and Jeju Island will briefly ease between the morning and afternoon, before expanding to the southern parts of the Chungcheong region and North Gyeongsang province from the night. Some areas in the Seoul metropolitan area and the Chungcheong region will see showers of 5 to 20mm.
The monsoon rain will expand to the Seoul metropolitan area and inland Gangwon from Saturday afternoon, affecting most of the country. The rain is expected to continue through early next week.
Expected rainfall for the day is 20 to 60mm in southern South Jeolla; 5 to 40mm in Gwangju, northern South Jeolla, Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang; 5 to 30mm on Jeju Island; 5 to 20mm in North Jeolla; and 5 to 10mm in Daejeon, southern South Chungcheong, southern North Chungcheong, Daegu and southern North Gyeongsang.
On Saturday, Jeju Island and the Jeolla region will see 30 to 100mm of rain, with more than 150mm expected in Jeju's mountainous areas and more than 120mm along the southern coast of South Jeolla. Rainfall of 30 to 80mm is forecast for the Chungcheong region, Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang; 20 to 60mm for Daegu and North Gyeongsang; and 10 to 60mm for Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi and inland and mountainous areas of Gangwon.
In particular, southern South Jeolla could see heavy rain of 20 to 30mm per hour accompanied by gusts, thunder and lightning until Friday morning, requiring preparation against flooding, facility damage and other storm and flood damage.
The heat is expected to continue despite the rain. For the time being, daytime temperatures will rise above 30 degrees mainly across inland areas nationwide, with the highest perceived temperature reaching around 31 degrees. The daytime high on Friday is forecast at 24 to 32 degrees, while Saturday will see morning lows of 20 to 23 degrees and daytime highs of 25 to 31 degrees.
Caution is also needed at sea. Gusts, thunder and lightning are expected in the South Sea until Friday morning, while dense sea fog will form in some parts of the central West Sea and the seas around Jeju Island, requiring vigilance against safety accidents for navigating and fishing vessels.
