Seoul: Heavy snow disrupts ferry services, flights nationwide, as forty-one ferry sailings and four flights were canceled Tuesday, according to anti-disaster authorities. The central provinces of Chungcheong, the southeastern provinces of Gyeongsang, and the northeastern province of Gangwon have been blanketed by snow since the weekend.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters reported that 41 passenger ships traveling on 30 routes, including those linking Incheon and Baengnyeong Island, and Pohang and Ulleung Island, suspended services as of 6 a.m. Furthermore, four domestic flights were canceled, including three at Seoul's Gimpo International Airport and one at Yeosu Airport.
A heavy snow advisory remains in effect across most of the Gangwon, Chungcheong, and Gyeongsang regions, with up to 50 centimeters of snow falling over the past two days. Weather forecasters predict that snow or rain will continue until Tuesday night in some areas of Gangwon and along the east coast.
The heavy snowfall has also resulted in road closures at three locations in Gangwon, one in North Chungcheong, and six in North Gyeongsang, as noted by the agency. Fortunately, no casualties have been reported so far.
On this unseasonal snowy day, daily accumulations reached 11 cm in Gyeongju, 7 cm in Ulsan, and 5.9 cm in the Gyeonggi Province county of Yangpyeong, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) reported. Even Seoul received 3.1 cm of snow in the morning, which the KMA noted is significant for spring.
The KMA attributed the unseasonal snowfall to a low-pressure system and its accompanying cloud belt moving northeast from Shanghai, China, toward Kyushu, Japan.