Wednesday was freezing, Thursday's going to be worse

A hiker takes photos of snow on Mount Halla in Jeju Island Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Sharp winds whipped through the nation on Wednesday as temperatures dipped below zero, making the coldest day this autumn.

Thursday will be colder than Wednesday nationwide, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) forecast.

The low in Seoul on Wednesday was minus 6.8 degrees Celsius (19.76 degrees Fahrenheit), but strong winds pushed the temperature down to minus 12.5 degrees Celsius with the wind-chill factor.

This was far lower than Tuesday’s wind-chill temperature of 7.4 degrees Celsius in Seoul, according to the KMA.

The wind-chill temperature is the temperature that people actually feel on their skin when factoring in the wind.

Wind speeds in the capital on Wednesday were around 35 kilometers per hour (21.7 miles per hour).

Cold advisories were issued for most of the country on Wednesday.

Mount Seorak (5,604 feet) in Gangwon, one of Korea’s tallest mountains in the nation’s coldest province, saw temperatures sink to minus 17.5 degrees Celsius near Peak Daecheong. The wind-chill temperature there was minus 27.5 degrees Celsius.

Seoul and Incheon experienced snow on Tuesday night at around 10:20 p.m., the first for this fall but nine days later than the average and 19 days later than last year.

Mount Halla (6,388 feet) on Jeju Island also saw its first snow, 22 days later than last year.

The KMA said snow was expected to fall around the country’s southwestern coastal areas sometime on Wednesday or Thursday. Mountainous regions of Jeju Island and the western parts of North Jeolla will see one to seven centimeters (about 0.4 to 2.8 inches) of snow, while the western coast of South Chungcheong and the middle to northern areas of South Chungcheong and western South Jeolla can expect one to three centimeters.

The cold spell will continue through Thursday, the KMA said, with temperatures dipping even further by about one to five degrees Celsius.

The low for Seoul on Thursday is expected to be minus 9 degrees, though the winds won’t be as strong as on Wednesday, said the KMA.

The cold will last until Friday and slowly climb back up afterward.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]