43% of Greater Seoul Area Placed Under Serious Heat Wave Warnings

Warning Details

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued serious heat wave warnings effective 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The warnings cover southern Incheon, and nine cities and zones in Gyeonggi Province, including Gwangmyeong, Yeoncheon and Hwaseong.
43 percent of the region is now under the top alert, covering 20 out of 46 advisory areas.
Cheongyang, South Chungcheong Province, marks the first implementation of this warning level in the central Chungcheong provinces.
Seoul received a full top-tier warning on Tuesday, the first time since the warning system's introduction on June 1.

Warning Criteria

According to the KMA, a serious heat wave warning is issued when apparent temperatures are projected to hit 38 C or higher, or daily maximum temperatures reach 39 C or above, in areas where the highest perceived temperature is 35 C or higher for two or more consecutive days.

Temperature Record

Yangsan recorded 42.5 C, the highest temperature since modern weather observations began in 1904.

Heat-Related Health Impact

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, between May 15 and Monday, there were 2,221 heat-related hospitalizations and 19 heat-related fatalities.

Sources

One source. Everything above rests on Yonhap News Agency alone. We have not found a second, independent account of it, so treat the detail as that organisation states it and check the original before you rely on it.

13 structured facts in this article were checked against the sources above. See our fact-check policy.