[New start] Seoul metropolitan area and Gangwon 'Snow watch'...Concern over transportation chaos in the Seoul metropolitan area

■ Host: Anchor Lee Jung-seop, Anchor Cho Ye-jin
■ Starring: Anti-Sung YTN Disaster Advisory Committee

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News START] when quoting.

[Anchor]
As you saw on the screen, there was a lot of snow in many parts of the metropolitan area such as Seoul and Incheon and Gangwon-do. I'm concerned about traffic chaos on my way to work. Let's talk with snow forecast and weather forecast and Ban Ki-sung, YTN Disaster Advisory Committee. Please come in. The first snow was observed throughout the metropolitan area. It snowed a lot right now. How much did it snow?

[Banichung]
First of all, it snowed 3 to 5 cm per hour in the metropolitan area and Gangwon area, and then 2 cm per hour in the eastern part of Jeollabuk-do. The place that fell the most is about 19.1cm toward Yongmunsa Temple in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do. It's 6 o'clock now. In Seoul, Gangbuk area fell 19.1cm. It snowed 15.2cm in Seoul, followed by 13.2cm in Hongcheon, Gangwon-do, and 12.5cm in Pyeongchang.

[Anchor]
We connect and show CCTV footage every hour, and it seems that there are places where the snow dies down and there are more places where it falls. How do you think the eye situation will change in the future?

[Planar]
Snow is expected to continue nationwide until the day after tomorrow. Between today and tomorrow, a lot of snow mainly falls toward the central region. The main cloud belt is expected to fall a lot to the central part of the country. The areas that are likely to fall the most now are the Seoul metropolitan area, so now there is not much snow in the southern part of Gyeonggi-do, but between tonight and early morning tomorrow, strong clouds will descend in southern Gyeonggi-do, northern Chungcheongbuk-do, and here. Therefore, the place where the wind is located is expected to be up to 30cm in the mountainous area in the south-central Gangwon-do. Next, it's up to 20cm in southern Gyeonggi Province or inland areas. Seoul is expected to be up to 10cm by tomorrow, and then up to 15cm in eastern Jeollabuk-do or mountainous areas in northern Gangwon-do.

[Anchor] You can see the snow falling more in the
highlands through a graphic. It falls a little less near the southern coast. When we stepped on the snow at dawn on our way to work, it was very sticky. This snow is called heavy wet snow because it contains a lot of moisture, so I think you need to pay attention to weak facilities or electric wires when snow accumulates.

[Planar]
It's very dangerous. When I came to the broadcasting station, it's humid because it melts on the road, but I think it's wetter out of the wet snow when I touch it. Usually, in the case of wet snow, wet snow is usually created when the conditions created are between -0 and -10 degrees Celsius. In this case, it is becoming more humid as more water vapor is supplied because cloud bands move in along the West Sea. In the case of wet snow, it is very heavy even in a very small area. For example, Seoul is about 10m wide and 10m long, and now Seoul is 15cm, but if you come in 5cm more and accumulate 20cm, the weight will be almost 2.4 tons. So, even if it is 10m in size and 20cm stacked, it weighs almost 2.4 tons, so most greenhouses and weak buildings will collapse. The wires will also be dangerous, especially when it freezes.

[Anchor]
We should also check the structure in advance. I'm worried about the traffic chaos because it's full-fledged rush hour. If possible, it would be better to use public transportation, but for those who inevitably use their own cars, what should I pay attention to?

[Planar]
Anyway, the main road is melted because there are a lot of cars, but the side roads and slightly sloping roads are covered with snow. The most important thing on these roads is that when we start from the snow, it is recommended to start in 2 dong if it is manual, and if it is automatic, it is recommended to set it as an auto hold winter. Next time, always do enough inter-vehicle distance. It is always safe to follow the wheel marks of the car in front of you when it accumulates snow. First of all, it is very important to use an engine brake when stopping on a downhill road or something like this. On the uphill path, you have to go up without stopping as you go up.
The most important thing is to slow down. I think going slowly is the most important thing for safety.

[Anchor]
And there were a lot of strong winds across the country yesterday. So, there was damage, but will it be accompanied by wind today?

[Planar]
It's a little less than yesterday, a little bit. Yesterday, the maximum instantaneous wind speed reached 39m in mountainous areas in Gangwon-do. It was amazing. Since it blew 20m nationwide, there were a lot of accidents. In the case of yesterday, strong wind warnings were issued nationwide except for some inland areas. In the case of today, strong wind warnings are issued mainly in coastal and mountainous areas. So in the case of the coastal side, the maximum wind speed is expected to be about 20m per second, and in the case of mountains, it is expected to be up to 25m per second. Inland areas like this are also expected to have winds of more than 15m/s when they are strong, but if this is the case now, the wind is bound to be strong because the atmospheric pressure fluctuations are very strong. These strong winds are expected to remain until tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. So, you need to strengthen your solidarity so that there is no damage to facilities.

[Anchor]
In addition to strong winds, snow is expected to fall frequently this week. Especially on Thursday morning, the temperature will drop below zero, but the temperature difference has been large recently in the morning, even if it's cold, the temperature does not drop that much in the middle of the day, but should I say that the cold will begin in earnest from now on?

[Planar]
First of all, during this cold wave, the temperature is lower than the average year. It's below freezing even in the morning. The problem is that it is below zero, but in the case of Seoul during the day, the daytime temperature is around 4 degrees and 5 degrees, and it is until Friday. The temperature will rise a little from Saturday. Even so, the wind blows, so the temperature felt is almost below zero even during the day. It can feel quite cold. Currently, it snows again next Monday and then the temperature drops again. So, even if the daytime temperature rises slightly this weekend, the temperature drops again after next Monday's snow rain until next Thursday, so in this cold case, the temperature starts to drop from yesterday afternoon and remains for about 10 days. So, after about 10 days, I expect the temperature to rise again.

[Anchor]
It feels cold all of a sudden. It was warm until a few days ago. Depending on the place, there are forsythia bloomed, and it's snowing now, but the snow in the metropolitan area is late than usual. Why do these extreme weather events occur?

[Planar]
It's the impact of climate change. These phenomena occur because the temperature rises too high due to global warming. Especially this year, it's called a surprise series. It's not the time for flowers to bloom at all, but flowers that bloom in spring are blooming in late autumn. In cherry blossoms, forsythia, and my garden, roses that bloom only in spring are also in full bloom. The reason why these things usually bloom is that the ideal heat wave was very severe this year. In the case of Korea, the temperature was the highest ever until September and the second highest month ever in October. Because the temperature is high, plants are under considerable stress. There are many causes such as pollution, and these are expected to happen more because of this climate change in the future. However, even if the flowers bloom, they do not bloom entirely, but only one stem comes up, so it is considered that there is no problem with growth or next blooming.

[Anchor]
I wonder how you forecast the winter weather this year, but there are still December, January, and February left. If you could give me a prospect.

[Planar]
On the overall average of winter, it is expected to be similar to or slightly warmer than the average year. Due to recent climate change, global temperatures continue to rise. Since it is on the rise, it is correct to see winter temperatures rise on average. However, it is cold when the cold wave comes down in one season in winter. So before winter begins this year, some scholars and some universities are expecting a strange wave this winter, a significant cold wave. I've done a lot of interviews like that, but it can come like that. In this year's case, the cold wave is expected to come down like this. First, La Niña is proceeding now, and secondly, a lot of glaciers in the Arctic Ocean are melted. In this case, winter tends to be cold. Especially when La Niña comes, early winter and usually December are very cold. Recently, in December 2021 or December 2022, there were cases where the cold wave came down in December in Seoul and lasted more than 10 days. However, in December 2021 and 2022, a cold wave came down and affected it for a long time, but the overall average temperature that winter was warmer than usual. I think this winter will be warmer than usual if you look at it as a whole. However, the problem is that as I said earlier, there is a high possibility that the cold wave of the Arctic Ocean will come down because the Arctic sea ice is melted too much. So, if it comes down, the Arctic cold wave is still coming down, but once it comes down, isn't it affecting about 10 days? And I think this winter will last for a long time. So, once the cold wave comes down, it's 10 days, and it's more than 10 days for warm things. Short wave, short wave, short wave, cold, warm, not like this, but warm for a long period of time and cold for a long period of time. I expect that these things will not be repeated.

[Anchor]
As you mentioned, there was an expectation that the coldest would come, and then it changed to an expectation that it would be warmer than now. Since it was very hot in the summer, we usually expect winter to be cold if it's too hot, but why does it keep changing?

[Planar]
When we made the forecast, for example, we wanted to know the Seoul forecast five days ago, so we looked at the Korea Meteorological Administration forecast, and the weather said it was going to rain three days ago, but it was only cloudy, so the longer the lead time was, the more inaccurate the forecast was. So I think the closer it gets, the more it will be modified. This is because the Korea Meteorological Administration predicted that December would be cold when the three-month forecast was made last month, but this month the three-month forecast will have a temperature similar to that of the average year. Then January will be similar to the average year. I revised that February will be warmer than usual. These things don't make much difference this winter, either in October or in November. However, the forecasters are correcting the forecast by seeing slight changes in the meantime. However, as I said earlier, just because it is similar to the average year does not mean that there is no cold wave. That means that December and November will be similar in temperature to the average year as a whole, and in the meantime, a cold wave will come and a warm period will be a severe winter. Rather, this winter is quite bad for people's health. So I think it's winter when I have to be more careful.

[Anchor]
You even pointed out the weather forecast for this winter, but there is a lot of snow in all parts of the metropolitan area, so there is a concern about traffic chaos on the way to work. For those who want to drive, it would be good to come out a little earlier than usual and move diligently. So far, I've talked to the anti-Sung YTN disaster advisor. Thank you.