Monsoon season begins with heavy rain forecast for Jeju Island

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Monsoon season begins with heavy rain forecast for Jeju Island

Published: 25 Jun. 2023, 16:43 Updated: 11 Jul. 2023, 18:24

Tourists in raincoats and holding up umbrella walks along Jeju city on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The monsoon season started with rain on Jeju Island on Sunday. The rain front is expected to move north and continue to soak the peninsula until Tuesday.

Heavy rain is expected to make landfall in the greater Seoul area on Monday.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) on Sunday precipitation in Jeju by Tuesday is estimated to be 100 to 300 millimeters (3.9 to 11.8 inches) with some mountain areas expecting at least 500 millimeters.

On Sunday some 100 millimeters of rain is expected for Jeju with heavy rain warning alerts sent out for the eastern, southern and northern areas.

Such alerts are dispatched when precipitation exceeds 50 millimeters in one hour or 90 millimeters in three hours.

The Jeolla provinces and South Gyeongsang are expected to see precipitation between 80 and 150 millimeters with a minimum of 200 millimeters around Mount Jiri.

Seoul, the greater Seoul area, Chungcheong, North Gyeongsang and Gangwon are expected to see rain measuring between 30 and 100 millimeters.

“Heavy rain is expected to fall nationwide due to low pressure that has developed from a stationary front [stretching from Shanghai to Jeju] amid warm and humid air from the south,” said Park Joong-hwan, an official with the KMA.

A shop owner at a traditional market in Seoul on Sunday places a steel panel that would prevent waters from getting into the basement during heavy rain. [YONHAP]

The government held a meeting on Sunday led by the Ministry of Interior and Safety where it discussed preemptive actions in case of floods, including traffic control and evacuation plans, particularly in areas where there is a concentration of people living in basement apartments.

The government said it will double check on flood-related facilities including drainage pumps.

Since this month, the weather agency is sending out emergency disaster texts directly to residents of areas that are being affected.

Previously, emergency alert messages are sent to city or provincial residents. The frequent alerts have numbed many to the warnings.

The new system, however, will only be applied to the greater Seoul area this year before being adopted nationwide in May next year.

Last year a family of three including a 13-year-old girl living in a half-basement apartment in a low-rise building in Gwanak District Seoul, were killed after a record-breaking downpour in August.

The family was unable to escape the flood waters due to metal bars on their windows.

Belated warnings were also cited as a reason behind the fatality.

A monitor at the Korea Meteorological Administration's branch office in Suwon shows the rain cloud hanging on top of the Peninsula. The rain front is expected move north hitting the greater Seoul area on Monday. [YONHAP]

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]