[Weather] Morning Lows Down to -19 Degrees... Severe Cold Wave Continues Through the Weekend

On Friday, the 23rd, the severe cold wave will continue.

On the 18th, showing early winter cold, a citizen hurrying to work passes through Namdaemun area in Jung-gu, Seoul. 2025.11.18 Photo by Dongju Yoon

On the 23rd, morning low temperatures nationwide are expected to drop to between -19 and -2 degrees Celsius, and daytime highs are forecast to range from -4 to 7 degrees Celsius.

By region, the morning temperature in the inland areas of Gyeonggi, inland and mountainous areas of Gangwon, North Chungcheong, and inland North Gyeongsang will be around -15 degrees Celsius. The rest of the central region (excluding the east coast of Gangwon) and the southern inland will see lows below -10 degrees Celsius, while the east coast of Gangwon and the southern coastal areas will experience lows between -10 and -5 degrees Celsius.

The expected low and high temperatures are as follows: Seoul, -12 and -1 degrees; Incheon, -11 and -1 degrees; Daejeon, -11 and 2 degrees; Gwangju, -4 and 5 degrees; Daegu, -7 and 4 degrees; Ulsan, -6 and 5 degrees; Busan, -4 and 6 degrees Celsius.

From early morning to noon on the 23rd, snow is expected in the west coast of South Chungcheong, Gwangju and central inland Jeonnam, the west coast of Jeolla, and Jeju. Later in the late afternoon, snow will fall again in Incheon and the west coast of Gyeonggi, and at night in Seoul, southern inland Gyeonggi, southern inland Gangwon, southern mountainous Gangwon, Chungcheong, North Jeolla, and Jeju (rain or snow in Jeju). Snow is expected to continue in Chungcheong, Honam, and western inland Gyeongsang until dawn on the 24th, and in the west coast of Jeolla until the morning of the 24th.

The expected snowfall for January 23-24 is 1-5 cm in western Jeonnam, the west coast of North Jeolla, and the mountainous areas of Jeju; 1-3 cm in the five West Sea islands, southern inland Gangwon, southern mountainous Gangwon, Ulleungdo, Dokdo, and mid-mountainous Jeju; around 1 cm in Chungcheong, Gwangju, inland North Jeolla, and the coast of Jeju; and less than 1 cm in the Seoul metropolitan area, western inland North Gyeongsang, and western inland South Gyeongsang.

On the 23rd, strong winds with instantaneous speeds of around 55 km/h (up to 70 km/h in mountainous areas) will continue, especially in the mountainous and east coast areas of Gangwon. At sea, swells will continue to flow into the east coast, and in the outer southern East Sea, far southern East Sea, and far southern Jeju waters, strong winds of 30-65 km/h and waves of 1.5-4.0 meters are expected until the 23rd. In the far central East Sea and far northern East Sea, strong winds and high waves will persist for the time being.