Downpours this week to offer little respite from heat

A child uses an umbrella on Aug. 10 in Seoul amid the rain. [YONHAP]

Heavy rains will likely batter the country this week and bring temperatures down by a few degrees, though the weather will remain sweltering hot.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) announced Monday there was a high chance that most parts of the nation, including the Seoul metropolitan area, will experience showers from that afternoon.

The Seoul metropolitan area refers to Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi.

The rain is expected to intensify from Tuesday morning, particularly in the central and Jeolla regions, and last through Friday.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Incheon and northern Gyeonggi will likely receive 50 to 120 millimeters (2 to 4.7 inches) of rain in total, or perhaps above 150 millimeters in hard-hit places, according to KMA estimates.

Seoul and southern Gyeonggi will likely get 30 to 120 millimeters.

The rest of the country has been forecast to see somewhere between 5 to 80 millimeters of rain, or above 150 millimeters in higher altitudes.

Temperatures will range between 22 and 33 degrees Celsius (71.6 to 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit), about the same as previous sunny days.

Weather officials noted that even after the rain clouds clear, the hot weather will likely persist, as there are currently no indications suggesting otherwise.

Residents living near the inter-Korean border were specifically advised to remain vigilant against possible floods.

With some 100 to 150 millimeters of rain expected from Tuesday and Wednesday in northern Gyeonggi, the KMA warned that North Korea might release water from their dams, causing water to overflow in downstream areas of Yeoncheon County, Paju, Cheorwon County, Hwacheon County, Pocheon, Gapyeong County, Chuncheon, Yangu County and Inje County.

This week’s rains come less than two weeks after Typhoon Khanun slammed the country, leaving two people dead.

Temperatures have hovered near 35 degrees or above for several weeks in Korea, causing over 2,000 people to fall ill from the heat. About 30 people are believed to have died from a heat-related illness ever since the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency began keeping track of the data from May 20.

Over the past week, some 50 people have been falling sick from the heat each day on average.

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