As the severe cold continues... Han River freezes 16 days earlier than usual

Due to the continuous severe cold, the Han River near Seogang Bridge in Seoul is freezing on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The Han River has frozen solid as the cold wave continues.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) on the 25th, the Han River froze earlier this year than it has in the 2000s, marking the fourth earliest freeze.

The KMA's criterion for announcing that the Han River has frozen is when "a rectangular area located 100 meters upstream between the second and fourth piers of the Hangang Bridge connecting Yongsan-gu and Dongjak-gu in Seoul is covered with ice, making the river water invisible."

Due to the recent severe cold, this year's freezing of the Han River was observed 16 days earlier than the average date (January 10) and 15 days earlier than January 9, 2021.

Last year, the Han River did not freeze for the ninth time since observations began in 1906 (no observations from 1947 to 1954) due to the absence of a prolonged cold wave.

Analyzing the daily minimum and maximum temperatures in Seoul for the five days preceding the Han River freezing dates over the past five years (2017?2021), the KMA found that the river froze when "the daily minimum temperature was below minus 10 degrees Celsius for five or more consecutive days and the daily maximum temperature was also below freezing."

The earliest recorded freeze of the Han River was on December 4, 1934.

This year, the Han River froze earlier than usual, but overall, the trend is toward later freezing dates.

Until the 1940s, the Han River typically froze by mid-December.

Global warming, which has raised winter temperatures, and the increase in the Han River's water volume due to the Han River development project in the mid-1980s are cited as reasons for the delayed freezing dates.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.