Heat wave in Korea this weekend – You’ve been warned

» Posted by on Aug 20, 2010 in Korean News | 3 comments

Apparently, this god-forsaking  heat is only going to get worse this weekend, according to the Korea Herald, with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees in the South.

The entire country is forecast to sizzle throughout the weekend, the state weather agency said Friday, issuing heat wave alerts in most parts of the country including Seoul.

The temperatures will peak at over 35 degrees Celsius in the southern parts of the country and 32 degrees in Seoul, causing the tropical night phenomenon throughout the nation, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.

The unusual heat in this temperate climate country has caused the deaths of five people in this month alone, including an 80-something-year-old man who lost consciousness and died after spending lengthy hours outdoors.

More than 230 people have been treated due to symptoms related to the scorching heat and 30 percent of them were aged 60 or higher, according to the Welfare Ministry.

Sporadic showers are predicted to fall in some regions, but won’t be enough to cool down the heat, the KMA said, asking people to refrain from doing outdoor activities.

High temperatures throughout the country are anticipated to continue throughout the weekend until rain hits the central region early next week, the weather agency added.

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  • John from Daejeon

    Thank you for the great info. As someone very familiar with 40+ summers (that start very early in the Spring and run will into the Fall), I always love these cooler temperatures here in South Korea. It even makes my weekends better as a lot of the population tries to avoid being outside.

    And, yeah, you always do get those older people who think they are still young kids and overdo it everywhere in the world when it is either too hot or too cold and then succumb to the either the heat or cold, and farmers are the one occupation most likely for it to happen to as they must be out in it as is dictated by their livelihood. Most (myself included) just needed that one good dose of heat exhaustion to realize that the “siesta” was a great invention for the hottest part of the afternoon.

    If you aren’t “used to” the heat, you should only be out during the early morning hours and then in the late afternoon while drinking plenty of non alcoholic fluids (being inebriated also leads to a greater chance of “fan death” during the summer that, for some reason, is only a problem here in South Korea).

  • Jimmy

    You’re used to 40+?! Jesus, I couldn’t dream of that temperature.

    Thanks for the advice. I’ve heard a few people mention ‘fan death’ but didn’t know what it was.

    A quick look on google has convinced my girlfriend that we can no longer have the fan on at night.

    What a pain!

  • John from Daejeon

    “A quick look on google has convinced my girlfriend that we can no longer have the fan on at night.”

    Yeah, for some strange reason, you only have to worry about it here in South Korea, but the rest of the world is somehow immune from those killer fans. However, the fan is a great fall guy if you need to get rid of someone here. I just wonder if those always napping police officers would catch on if the killer fan struck in the middle of winter?