[Tomorrow's Weather] Seoul Wind Chill to Hit -13°C on Thursday Morning... Subzero Temperatures Persist During the Day

On the morning of January 8, temperatures in the Seoul metropolitan area, Gangwon, North Chungcheong, and North Gyeongsang provinces are expected to be more than 10 degrees Celsius lower than the previous morning. In other regions, morning temperatures will also drop by more than 5 degrees within a day.

On the 26th, when the wind chill dropped to minus 18 degrees Celsius, marking the coldest day this winter, buildings in downtown Seoul's Jongno district were seen emitting steam as heating systems were operating. 2025.12.26 Photo by Cho Yongjun

The morning low on January 8 will range from minus 14 to minus 2 degrees Celsius.

Inland and mountainous areas of Gangwon will see temperatures around minus 15 degrees, while other inland areas of central Korea, eastern North Jeolla, and inland North Gyeongsang will drop to around minus 10 degrees.

In Seoul, the morning low is expected to be minus 9 degrees, a significant drop compared to the previous morning's low of 0.4 degrees, which was more than 5 degrees above the seasonal average. With strong winds, the wind chill is expected to fall to minus 13 degrees.

Other major cities are forecast to have morning lows of minus 8 degrees in Incheon and Daejeon, minus 4 degrees in Gwangju and Busan, and minus 6 degrees in Daegu and Ulsan.

With this sharp drop in temperatures, cold wave advisories have been issued for northwestern and northeastern Seoul, Ganghwa in Incheon, northern and southeastern Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and most areas of North Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang. These advisories will take effect at 9:00 p.m. on January 7.

The nationwide daytime highs on January 8 are expected to range from minus 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.

Many areas in the inland central region will remain below freezing even during the day.

The expected daytime highs for major cities are minus 1 degree in Seoul, minus 2 degrees in Incheon, 2 degrees in Daejeon and Daegu, 3 degrees in Gwangju and Ulsan, and 4 degrees in Busan.

The cold is expected to persist through the morning of Friday, January 9.

On January 9, morning lows will range from minus 11 to minus 2 degrees, which is similar to or slightly below the seasonal average. Daytime highs will rise to between 3 and 10 degrees, reaching or slightly exceeding the seasonal average.

On January 8, dry conditions will continue in areas under dry weather advisories, including parts of Seoul and inland Gyeonggi, the east coast and mountainous areas of Gangwon, eastern South Jeolla, and the Yeongnam region, making it easy for fires to break out.

This dryness is expected to ease somewhat over the weekend as snow and rain are forecast.

On the night of January 9, rain or snow will begin in the Seoul metropolitan area (excluding southwestern Gyeonggi) and inland and mountainous areas of Gangwon. Precipitation will continue until the night of Saturday, January 10, in the central region except South Chungcheong, and until the afternoon of January 11 in South Chungcheong and the Honam region. Jeju is expected to see precipitation through January 13, with snow and rain also forecast for the central region and Honam on the afternoon of January 12, and for Honam on the morning of January 13.

In the northern part of the southern West Sea and the western coastal waters of Jeju, strong winds of 35 to 60 km/h (10 to 16 m/s) and high waves of 1.5 to 4.0 meters are expected on the afternoon of January 8. In the central East Sea, southwestern inner waters off Jeju, and southern outer waters off Jeju, these conditions will persist until the night of January 8.

Winds and waves are expected to intensify in other sea areas as well, so it is important to monitor weather updates.

From January 8 to 9, swells will reach the east coast, bringing high and powerful waves, so caution is advised.