The first snowfall of the season grounded flights and triggered a weather warning throughout the South Korean capital.
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Record Snowfall Hurls Seoul Into Winter

The heaviest November snowstorm on record in the South Korean capital was a nuisance to commuters, and a delight to tourists, children and dogs.

by · NY Times

For many people in Seoul, a record November snowfall on Wednesday felt like a sudden plunge into winter, when days earlier they had been enjoying unseasonably warm temperatures.

Christine Domingo, 32, who was visiting from Manila, said she came to see the fall foliage, not expecting to experience winter. When she realized it had snowed on the final day of her 10-day trip, she put on three layers and set out for the base of Namsan, a scenic mountain peak in the heart of the city.

“We got both,” she said of the seasons after taking pictures with her sister and mother in front of a snowman someone else had made there. “It’s a one of a kind experience.”

By the time people woke up Wednesday, a storm had blanketed the city with the first snowfall of the season, the heaviest November snowfall in Seoul since records began in 1907.

About 6.5 inches of snow had fallen in the city by the morning, South Korea’s weather agency said. The last daily snowfall record for November, 4.9 inches, was set in 1972, said the Korea Meteorological Administration, the weather agency. The overall record for Seoul is more than four feet, set in 1969.

The snow began falling around midnight and piled up into the afternoon. A heavy snow warning was in effect throughout the capital, as parts of Seoul received as much as eight inches.

Incheon International Airport, which serves Seoul, on Wednesday.
Credit...Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Commuters in the city of almost 10 million slowed down to navigate the slick sidewalks with roads, parks and rooftops covered in a layer of sludge.

Dozens of domestic and international flights where canceled, and more than 100 were delayed, said the Korea Airports Corporation, which manages the country’s airports.

Jeon Byeong-seok, 70, shoveled the sludge on the sidewalk in front of his office while grumbling about Seoul’s snow removal. He said the snow had grown intense around 2 a.m., soon after he began his day distributing newspapers, but that the city had not started removing the snow.

“I was riding my motorcycle this morning and the tires were spinning out. I barely made it here,” he said.

Many hesitated to venture out and worked from home, leaving restaurants empty near a cluster of office buildings in central Seoul. One restaurant owner, Lee Jin-young, 37, said that he had served six groups instead of his typical 20 tables of customers by early afternoon.

“It feels like winter suddenly came out of nowhere,” he said as he swept away the snow in front of his establishment. Nearby, startled cries erupted from a group of teenagers who had nearly lost their footing on the slippery path.

A stagnant low pressure system north of the Korean Peninsula brought cold air from Russia’s far east to the Yellow Sea, causing the snow, said Woo Jin-kyu, an official in the Korea Meteorological Administration. More snow is forecast across the country on Thursday.

He said the storm was intensified by temperatures in the Yellow Sea that were a few degrees warmer than average, which he attributed to climate change.

For much of Wednesday, the sky was an uninterrupted gray as snowflakes blotted the skyline. For a few hours in the afternoon, the skies over Seoul cleared. People brought their dogs out to play; children had snowball fights; and tourists stopped to take photographs of the transformed landscape.

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