(LEAD) Cold wave, heavy snow disrupt morning traffic
A cold wave combined with heavy snowfall overnight created a rush among morning commuters Thursday.
The temperature in Seoul dropped to minus 16.1 C at 7 a.m. but with a wind chill of minus 25.3 C, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, the city had received 3.8 centimeters of snow. The suburbs of Gwacheon and Hanam also received 11.6 cm and 9 cm of snow, respectively.
Subways were packed well before 7 a.m., and buses crawled on icy roads.
“I left home an hour earlier than usual and was surprised to see how crowded the subway was,” a 30-year-old officer worker surnamed Kim said. “It looks like people left their cars at home because of the bad road conditions.”
There were reports of serious traffic congestion Wednesday night as the roads piled up with the sudden snowfall. Minor car accidents were also reported.
At 2:20 a.m., a car crashed into the outer wall of a building in southern Seoul after skidding on a slippery road, according to police.
The Seoul city government said it will extend the early morning schedules of subways to facilitate travel but space out bus times.
Trains were delayed at some overground subway stations as doors got stuck in the freezing cold.
A cold wave warning went into effect in Seoul on Wednesday night for the first time since Jan. 23, 2018.
The warning was already issued for many areas in Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang provinces at 9 p.m. Tuesday, followed by other areas Wednesday, including Incheon, west of Seoul.
The warning is issued when the morning low is below minus 15 C for more than two consecutive days, or when the temperature drops sharply and major damage is expected.
Mountainous areas of the southern island of Jeju also came under a cold wave warning for the first time since the nation introduced such alert systems in 1964.
The weather agency issued heavy snow advisories for Seoul, Jeju and almost all provinces of the country.
The KMA explained that the upcoming cold spell will be caused by a southward inflow of cold air from near Siberia. Temperatures will remain below the 30-year averages until next Tuesday and return to the seasonal averages next Wednesday, it said.
