Rain mixed with yellow dust expected as sandstorm makes rare June visit

People holding umbrellas pass through a street in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Saturday. [YONHAP]

Rain, possibly mixed with yellow dust, was forecast in parts of the country on Monday. Southern regions are expected to see heavy rain, accompanied by strong gusts, thunder and lightning.

According to the national weather agency, North Jeolla, Daegu and North Gyeongsang were expected to receive between 5 to 30 millimeters (0.19 to 1.18 inches) of rain. Chungcheong, South Jeolla and Gwangju were forecast to experience five to 20 millimeters throughout the day, while the greater Seoul area was likely to see less than 0.1 millimeters of precipitation.

The Korea Meteorological Administration warned of rain mixed with yellow dust originating from the Gobi Desert and Inner Mongolia.

During the day, Baengnyeong Island near Incheon and the Daegwallyeong area in Gangwon saw fine dust levels soar to the “bad” level, the second-highest on the four-tier system.

Fine dust levels were expected to be relatively high nationwide in the afternoon due to the influx of the yellow dust, according to the National Institute of Environmental Research’s Air Quality Forecasting Center.

In the greater Seoul area, Gangwon and Chungcheong, high concentrations of fine dust were expected from the afternoon onwards, while Jeolla, Gyeongsang and Jeju were predicted to briefly experience “bad” levels of fine dust concentrations at night.

The influx of yellow dust is quite rare to observe in June as it mostly sweeps through the country during spring or fall. Historical instances of yellow dust in June include 1961, 1962, 1973, 2015 and 2020.

“During the summer, low-pressure air masses usually move northward, but this time it descended towards Korea, bringing the yellow dust," an official at the weather agency said.

"The dust could potentially fall to the ground with the rain.”

From the afternoon onwards, heavy rains were forecast for the southern regions, seeing 10 to 20 millimeters of rain per hour.

Temperatures this week are expected to be cooler, with morning lows on Tuesday and Wednesday forecast to be two to five degrees Celsius lower compared to Monday. Midday highs on Monday ranged between 24 and 31 degrees Celsius nationwide.

BY CHUN KWON-PIL,CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]