Lead
South Korea registered its hottest first 10 days of August since nationwide weather observation began, with the average temperature excluding Jeju Island reaching 29.1 C, the state weather agency said on Aug. 11. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said the reading matched the 10-day average of August 2018, tying the record for the hottest opening 10 days of the month since the observation network was expanded across the country in 1973.
The period also produced the highest temperature recorded in South Korea since modern observations started in 1904 — 42.5 C in the southeastern city of Yangsan at 1:26 p.m. on Aug. 2. Daily maximum temperatures exceeded 40 C at 32 locations nationwide during the first 10 days of August, the KMA said. The statistics were carried by Yonhap News, which attributed them to the state weather service.
The summer's heat has been defined not only by daytime extremes but by persistently warm nights as well. Between June 1 and July 27, the nationwide average number of tropical nights — nights when the temperature stays above 25 C — reached 7.8, the highest for that period since 1973, according to the KMA. Over the same stretch, the average daily temperature stood at 24.2 C, the second-highest since 1973, behind the previous year's 24.8 C. The agency attributed the heat wave to hot and humid air flowing into the country under the influence of the North Pacific High pressure system.
Coverage comparison
Yonhap's reporting on the heat arrived in two stages. A July 28 dispatch quoted the KMA as warning of an unrelenting heat wave and forecasting that daytime temperatures would range between 33 C and 39 C from Aug. 1 to 7. At that point, the agency already reported a record tally of tropical nights in the period through July 27.
An Aug. 11 follow-up, filed after that 10-day stretch had concluded, confirmed the intensity of the heat. It cited KMA data showing that the average temperature for the first 10 days of August, excluding Jeju Island, was 29.1 C — on par with August 2018 — and that the highest daily maximum was 42.5 C in Yangsan. The later report also broke the period down by daily maximum and minimum temperatures, indicating that nighttime heat persisted as well: the average daily minimum was 24.8 C, the third-highest on record.
The two reports rely on the same source and complement each other. The July 28 dispatch described the heat wave as unrelenting and framed the tropical nights figure as the highest since 1973; the Aug. 11 report described the first 10 days of August as the hottest in 53 years. Both framings point to the same baseline: the establishment of a nationwide observation network in 1973. The first set expectations with a forecast, including a note that the southeastern city of Daegu was expected to log 39 C every day from Aug. 1 to 7. The second documented what actually occurred, providing the national statistics that confirmed the forecast's scale — including 32 locations where the daily maximum surpassed 40 C.
Key Claims
- The nationwide average number of tropical nights reached 7.8 between June 1 and July 27, the highest for the period since 1973, according to the KMA as reported by Yonhap.
- The average daily temperature from June 1 to July 27 was 24.2 C, the second-highest since 1973, behind the 24.8 C recorded in the previous year.
- The KMA attributed the heat wave to hot and humid air flowing into the country under the influence of the North Pacific High pressure system.
- In a July 28 forecast, the KMA said daytime temperatures were expected to range between 33 C and 39 C from Aug. 1 to 7. It also said Daegu was expected to see 39 C each day; the city's all-time high remains 40 C from Aug. 1, 1942.
- The average temperature for the first 10 days of August, excluding Jeju Island, was 29.1 C, tying the record set in August 2018.
- The average daily maximum temperature in the first 10 days of August was 34.4 C, the second-highest after 34.7 C in 2018.
- The average daily minimum temperature — an indicator of nighttime heat — was 24.8 C, the third-highest on record, following 25 C in 2022 and 24.9 C in 2018.
- The highest temperature in the 10-day period was 42.5 C in Yangsan at 1:26 p.m. on Aug. 2 — also the highest recorded in South Korea since modern observations began in 1904.
- Daily maximum temperatures exceeded 40 C at 32 locations nationwide during the first 10 days of August.