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Many people were caught in a sudden rain shower in Seoul's Jongno district around 10 a.m. Monday. At the same time there were also downpours of 0.5 to 4 mm in Seodaemun-gu, Dongdaemun-gu and Jungrang-gu. The Korea Meteorological Administration, however, hadn't forecast any rain for those areas that day.
Korea has had six days of rain so far this month, an average of one every three days. The showers are so frequent that some people believe Korea's climate is becoming like that of subtropical regions of Southeast Asia.
A sudden shower will pour for a while and be immediately followed by sunshine, which happens in subtropical climates.
It rained frequently in the early part of the month, but there were tropical nights with nighttime temperatures above 25 degrees once every two nights. That's another reason some people believe in the subtropical climate theory.
There is more evidence to support this hypothesis. In Jeju Island, Busan, and some cities in Southern Gyeongsang Province including Masan, Tongyeong, Geoje, and some in South Jeolla Province including Mokpo, Yeosu, Wando Island, features of a subtropical climate began appearing several years ago.
Kwon Won-tae at the Climate Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Meteorological Research said, "The increased temperatures in Korea caused heavier rainfall than last year, which can be seen as an indication of a subtropical climate."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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