Go to contents

Typhoon Prapiroon set to affect Jeju Island from Sunday

Posted June. 30, 2018 07:28,   

Updated June. 30, 2018 07:28

한국어

The Korean Peninsula is likely to be affected concurrently by monsoon rain and a typhoon over the weekend. The Korea Meteorological Administration said on Friday that Prapiroon, the seventh typhoon of this season, is moving northward from waters south of the Japanese island of Okinawa. If the typhoon follows the projected trajectory, it will start affecting Jeju Island from Sunday night, and reach waters off the Jeolla provinces during daytime on Monday to wield influence across entire South Korea. Prapiroon is the first typhoon to affect the Korean Peninsula this year.

Typhoon Chaba had minor influence on Jeju Island and southern coastal regions in 2016, but no typhoon has directly affected the entire South Korean territory for five years since 2013. The weather agency said Prapiroon can easily change its course or lose strength to become a tropical low atmosphere, and thus advised the public to frequently monitor weather forecast and gear up for potential damage including landslides and embankment collapses resulting from the destabilizing of the ground. Prapiroon, a name submitted by Thailand, means ‘“the God of Rain.”

Meanwhile, the seasonal monsoon front is also poised to move northward. Starting with southern provinces on Friday, the entire South Korean territory will be placed under the influence of the seasonal monsoon front on Saturday and Sunday. “Torrential rain of up to 150 millimeters will fall in many parts of the country through Sunday,” KMA weatherman Yoon Ki-han said. “Precipitation could increase significantly further if water vapors from the typhoon get mixed with humid hot air.”


Mee-Jee Lee image@donga.com