[Weather] Subzero Cold Wave Hits on New Year's Day... Continues Tomorrow

Snow and Rain Continue in Jeolla Region and Other Areas on January 1-2

The severe cold wave will continue into the New Year of 2026.

On January 1, morning temperatures across most regions of the country are expected to fall below minus 5 degrees Celsius. In Seoul, the wind chill is forecast to drop to as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius.

The weather will be mostly clear nationwide, but starting in the morning, Jeju Island may see some snow flurries. Snow is also expected to fall from nighttime in the western coastal areas of Jeolla and the inland areas of North Jeolla Province.

Expected snowfall amounts are 10 to 20 centimeters in the mountainous regions of Jeju Island and 1 to 5 centimeters along the coast. In some mountainous areas, more than 30 centimeters of snow is forecast.

Citizens are crossing the crosswalk in downtown Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

On the following day, January 2, cold air from the northwest will cause temperatures to drop sharply, resulting in very cold conditions. Strong winds will make the wind chill feel even lower.

Tomorrow morning, the lowest temperatures will range from minus 17 to minus 5 degrees Celsius, and daytime highs will be between minus 6 and 4 degrees Celsius, about 5 degrees lower than average for this time of year.

Morning temperatures in most regions will be around minus 10 degrees Celsius (with inland Gyeonggi, inland and mountainous Gangwon, and northeastern inland and mountainous North Gyeongsang areas dropping to around minus 15 degrees Celsius).

Cold wave advisories have been issued for the Seoul metropolitan area, inland and mountainous Gangwon, North Chungcheong, some inland areas of South Chungcheong, inland North Gyeongsang, and eastern North Jeolla.

The weather will remain mostly clear nationwide, but Chungcheong, Jeolla, and Jeju Island are expected to be mostly cloudy.

Snow or rain is expected in the western coastal areas of South Chungcheong and North Jeolla, southern inland areas, western Jeollanam-do, and Jeju Island. Less than 0.1 centimeters of snow may also fall in inland South Chungcheong, central and southern North Chungcheong, northern inland North Jeolla, eastern Jeollanam-do, and western inland South Gyeongsang.

Over the two-day period of January 1 and 2, expected snowfall is 3 to 8 centimeters in the western coast and southern inland of North Jeolla and in Gwangju and western Jeollanam-do (with more than 10 centimeters possible in some parts of the western coast of North Jeolla and Jeollanam-do), 1 to 3 centimeters in the five West Sea islands, and around 1 centimeter in the western coast of South Chungcheong.

During the same period, rainfall of 5 to 10 millimeters is also forecast for the western coast and southern inland of North Jeolla, and for Gwangju and western Jeollanam-do, while about 1 millimeter of rain is expected in the western coast of South Chungcheong and the five West Sea islands.

Fine dust concentrations will remain at a "good" level nationwide, as clean northwesterly air flows in and vertical air circulation is smooth.

Wave heights will range from 1.0 to 3.5 meters in the East Sea, 1.0 to 3.0 meters in the West Sea, and 0.5 to 2.0 meters in the South Sea. In the offshore areas (up to about 200 kilometers from the coastline), wave heights are expected to reach 1.5 to 5.5 meters in the East Sea and 1.5 to 3.5 meters in the West and South Seas.