Korea braces for a cold weekend

Visitors to Gangwon's highland Daegwallyeong area in Pyeongchang County walk on snow on Tuesday. Heavy snow advisories were issued in the area on the same day. [YONHAP]

Temperatures in Korea will plummet over the weekend, with winter rain and snow expected in parts of the country. Korea will grapple with below-freezing temperatures throughout next week.

Saturday's midday temperatures will be lower than the annual average temperatures, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Average morning lows will range from minus four degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) to two degrees Celsius. Midday highs will hover between minus three and seven degrees Celsius.

The KMA warned the public to beware of icy roads and damages from burst accidents, as many hazardous weather warnings are expected over the weekend.

The rain that battered the peninsula on Friday will continue through Saturday, with some parts of the country seeing snow. The most snowfall will occur in the western parts of Gangwon, including Chuncheon and Yeongwol County, as a rainstorm arrives from the Yellow Sea on Saturday.

The greater Seoul area, including Gyeonggi and Incheon, will see around one to three centimeters (one inch) of snow on Saturday. Northern parts of Gangwon anticipate with five to 10 centimeters of snow.

Coastal areas of Jeolla and Jeju will experience snowfall through Sunday night.

Cold wave alerts are expected across the western parts of the country as temperatures nose-dive on Saturday afternoon.

The alerts will expand to most parts of the country, with cold winter weather — brought by cold continental high pressures — to officially begin on Sunday.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued its first freezing alert of the season for 9 a.m. Sunday.

The KMA forecasts that average morning lows will range from minus 16 to one degree Celsius throughout next week, almost 9 degrees lower than average annual temperatures. Midday highs will range from minus six to nine degrees Celsius, lower than the usual temperatures of three to 10 degrees Celsius.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]