Coldest Day So Far This Winter on Jan. 9

January 6 was the 'Little Cold Day', traditionally the coldest day of the year, by the 24 seasonal divisions of the year in the Korean calendar.
This year is no exception, as the extraordinary warm winter days that lasted until January 6 turned sharply into a Siberian winter day during the early hours of January 7 with a numbing minus 7.2 degrees Celsius in and around Seoul.
On January 8 Seoul will record minus 9 to 10 degrees and January 9 will be the coldest day so far this year.
The Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA) forecasts that this cold spell will continue until January 11.
KMA forecasts that the mercury will dip to as low as minus 14 to 15 degrees in western Kangwon Province, minus 7 to 17 degrees in eastern Kangwon Province, minus 8 degrees in Chunhchong Province, minus 5 to 6 degrees in Cholla Province, and minus 3 to 7 degrees in Kyongsang Province on January 8.
'However it is a very strange phenomenon that the temperature at Chung-gu in central Seoul on January 7 recorded minus 9.9 degrees, but that of Kumchon-gu in western Seoul was minus 5.5 degrees,' added KMA.
KMA oficials explained the reason, 'The temperature in the central part of Seoul which is covered mainly with asphalt pavement and concrete buildings is normally colder in winter and hotter in summer than that of the regions with less paving and buildings.'