South Korean cities such as Seoul, Busan and many other parts of the country are breaking records for the longest series of consecutive tropical nights, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), The Korea Times reported.
The tropical night is a temperature that stays at or above 25 degrees Celsius from 6:01 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the following day. So far, the intense heat wave will persist and is not about to subside despite forecasts of heavy rain across the country earlier this week, with regions expected to continue setting new records every day.
The heat wave was listed as a natural disaster under the Disaster Security Act in 2019, a year after the country experienced its worst heat wave to date.
- Seoul suffered in particular, where the lowest temperature from Saturday evening to Sunday morning was 27 degrees Celsius, marking the 28th consecutive tropical night since 21 July.
- Incheon just observed its 26th consecutive tropical night. Busan observed its 24th consecutive tropical night, which is a record for the region.
- Conditions on Jeju Island are even more dire, with the tropical night lasting for the 34th consecutive day since 15 July, surpassing a month of unbroken heatwave.
KMA attributes this unprecedented streak of tropical nights to warm winds blowing over the Korean Peninsula each evening, and forecasts more tropical nights as there are no signs of the heat wave weakening.
On Monday, forecast heavy rain across the country, but temperatures will rise again quickly once the rain stops, leaving tropical nights largely unaffected.
KMA has previously issued official documents on monsoon seasons, typhoons and El Niño, a phenomenon in which sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean rise above average. However, this is the first time the agency has dedicated a white paper to heat waves.
