This spring (March to May) was recorded as the second hottest spring since 1973, when the national weather observation network was expanded.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration on the 2nd, the national average temperature this spring was 13.3 degrees. The all-time high was 13.5 degrees in 2023. It was 1.4 degrees higher than the normal (the 1991–2020 average) and 0.8 degrees higher than last year.
The warm spring pattern has become more pronounced in recent years. Of the top 10 years for the highest average spring temperatures, nine, excluding 1998, have all been concentrated since 2010. In particular, over the 53 years since 1973, the average temperature in March has risen 2.7 degrees, and the averages in April and May have risen 1.2 degrees and 1.3 degrees, respectively.
The immediate factor that drove up temperatures this spring was the frequent clear weather. As anticyclonic circulation formed strongly over Korea, descending air developed, and as a result there were many days of strong sunshine. In late March and mid-April, an upper-level high strengthened under the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation, and in mid-May, a blocking pattern created by pressure systems near Siberia and the Barents Sea prolonged the heat.
In particular, the national average temperature in mid-May was 19.7 degrees, setting a record high for mid-May. In places including Gumi, North Gyeongsang (May 16), Geochang, South Gyeongsang (May 17), and Mungyeong, Andong, and Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang (May 18), temperatures exceeded 33 degrees, marking the earliest heat wave on record.
Sea surface temperatures in the surrounding waters were also higher than normal. This spring, the average sea surface temperature around Korea's seas was 14.0 degrees, the second highest in the past 10 years after last year. This is analyzed as the effect of strengthened inflows of warm currents such as the Tsushima Warm Current and the East Korea Warm Current while oceanic heat content remained high.
Meanwhile, nationwide precipitation this spring was 268.1 millimeters, a level similar to the normal 248.4 millimeters. Although drought expanded mainly in the central region in mid-April, it was mostly alleviated as heavy rain fell nationwide on May 20–21.