"Monster Snow Cloud." Why only in the West Sea...The cold air is constantly coming to the Korean Peninsula. [Y Record]

◇Anchor> Let's first look at the heavy snow situation. How much snow did it fall in Chungnam and Honam?

◆ Reporter> Yes, I prepared a radar image that can see the movement of snow clouds from yesterday afternoon to now. Snow clouds are constantly pouring into Chungnam and Honam from the northwest. However, some of the snow cloud bands developed strongly, and some were mixed in a weak state, so depending on which cloud band came in, the snow poured strongly. I've repeatedly weakened. Around 15cm of snow fell in Jeollabuk-do, including Sunchang and Buan, and 10cm in western Yeongnam, including Seocheon, Chungcheongnam-do and Hamyang, Gyeongsangnam-do.

◇Anchor> If so, I'm also curious about the cause. Why do clouds continue to form in the West Sea?

◆ Reporter> The biggest reason is that cold air enters our country through the relatively warm West Sea with the wind. The larger the temperature difference between the air and the sea, the stronger the clouds develop. Back then, because of the stagnant flow of the upper atmosphere, the low pressure cannot escape, and it keeps sending very cold air below minus 40 degrees Celsius down like a slide. The cold air from the upper layer develops the cold continental high pressure near Siberia in the northwest in the lower atmosphere and continuously releases cold air to Korea. Even in the lower layers, the air is so cold that the temperature difference with the sea widens by more than 30 degrees, and strong clouds are continuously formed.

◇Anchor> Last time it was in the metropolitan area, but this time, the snow was concentrated in Chungnam and Honam, right?

◆ Reporter> That's right. In fact, the cause of heavy snow in the Seoul metropolitan area in November and the west coast is similar. As the upper atmosphere flow stagnated, the upper cold air continued to descend to the lower layers, and the clouds developed as the cold air passed through the West Sea came in the same way. The problem is 'Hanpa'. It wasn't cold in November. So, the air in the lower atmosphere is still warm, but the cold air comes down from the upper layer and collides with the warm air, creating a low pressure. The low pressure rotates counterclockwise, so there's no continuous northwest wind. In November, heavy snow poured down in Gyeonggi-do, including Seoul, because the metropolitan area was the place where the low pressure with clouds passed. This time, as the cold wave is added, the temperature is very low in the lower layers, so it's cold. With cold air already in place, colder air comes down, so no low pressure is created, and snow clouds come in near Chungnam and Honam with the northwest wind. The wind direction determines the area where snow falls. As of now, it has snowed for 24 hours. It is concentrated only in Chungnam, Jeonbuk, and parts of Jeollanam-do. Among the northwest winds, the wind came in the direction of Chungnam and Jeonbuk, so even in the same Honam area, there was no heavy snow in southern Jeollanam-do.



Excerpted from the conversation: Lee Mi-young, editor of the digital news team

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