The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast on the 19th that a cold wave will hit this weekend, bringing heavy snow. However, it is expected to be difficult to anticipate a white Christmas as the snow will stop afterward.
Precipitation clouds formed over the West Sea will move into the Korean Peninsula with the westerly winds. The west coast will see snow and rain from the morning to the night of the 20th. The central region could see heavy snow of 3 cm per hour from dawn to morning on the 21st, potentially prompting a heavy snow advisory. Jeju and the Jeolla coast will experience snow and rain from the night of the 21st.
Over the two days (20th to 21st), the expected snowfall is 5 to 15 cm in the mountainous areas of Jeju, and 3 to 10 cm in the southern inland and central mountainous regions of Gangwon, southern mountainous regions of Gangwon, and eastern Jeonbuk. Considerable snow accumulation of 3 to 8 cm is also expected in southern and eastern Gyeonggi, northern Chungbuk, and from 1 to 5 cm in Seoul, Incheon, northwestern Gyeonggi, West Sea 5 Islands, central and northern inland areas of Gangwon, northern mountainous regions of Gangwon, central, and southern Chungbuk, Daejeon, Sejong, Chungnam, western Jeonbuk, inland Jeonnam, and southwestern inland Gyeongnam. Snowfall of 1 cm is expected in inland areas of Gyeongbuk, northeastern mountainous regions of Gyeongbuk, Daegu, central and southern inland areas of Gyeongbuk, and central inland areas of Gyeongnam. The expected precipitation is 5 to 20 mm in Jeju and around 5 mm in other areas.
Afterward, the continental anticyclone will expand, and strong northwesterly winds will bring severe cold. Morning low temperatures will drop from minus 8 to 3 degrees Celsius on the 20th, minus 3 to 4 degrees on the 21st, to minus 13 to 1 degrees from the 22nd to the 23rd. Christmas Eve (24th) and the day (24th) are expected to be clear without snow. A trough will pass northeast on the 25th night, but its impact on the Korean Peninsula will be limited due to the distance.