▲ Torrential Rain in Geoje Floods Roads
Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, was pummeled by 638.7 mm of rain today (Aug 17).
This marks a record-breaking level of precipitation not just for Geoje, but nationwide.
Precipitation in Geoje reached 638.7 mm as of 6 p.m. today.
This is the highest daily rainfall ever recorded in Geoje since weather observations began there on January 24, 1972. It also ranks as the third-highest daily precipitation of all time among the 97 Automated Synoptic Observing System (ASOS) weather stations managed by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).
The only times higher daily rainfall was recorded than today in Geoje were in Gangneung (870.5 mm on August 31, 2002) and Daegwallyeong (712.5 mm on August 31, 2002) when Typhoon Rusa, the 15th typhoon, made landfall 24 years ago.
Tongyeong, located near Geoje, also saw its daily precipitation reach 453.7 mm as of 6 p.m. today, breaking the record for the highest daily rainfall since weather observations began in Tongyeong on January 1, 1968.
Tongyeong's daily rainfall also ranked as the 10th highest on record among the 97 weather observation stations.
Geoje experienced "extreme torrential rain" with 124.5 mm pouring down in just one hour from 1:32 a.m. today.
This is also the highest one-hour rainfall amount recorded in Geoje since weather observations began.
The previous record was 96.5 mm set on July 5, 2001.
Seoimal in Ilun-myeon, Geoje, received 100.5 mm of rain in one hour starting at 0:21 a.m., while Gadeokdo in Gangseo-gu, Busan, recorded 101.5 mm in one hour starting at 2:59 a.m.
This summer, hourly downpours exceeding 100 mm were observed for the first time in Geoje and Gadeokdo.
Tongyeong received 97.4 mm of rain in one hour starting at 5:11 a.m., setting a new one-hour rainfall record since weather observations began, much like Geoje.
The KMA explained that the rainfall was intense enough to occur "once every 200 years" in Geoje and "once every 100 years" in Tongyeong.
Looking at the cumulative precipitation from Liberation Day, when the rain began, until 6 p.m. today, heavy downpours were concentrated along the southern coast and Jeju's mountainous areas: 912.4 mm in Geoje, 748.8 mm in Tongyeong, 477.0 mm in Gadeokdo, 429.0 mm in Goseong, South Gyeongsang Province, 420.5 mm in Sacheon (Samcheonpo), South Gyeongsang Province, and 383.5 mm in Mount Halla (South Wall), Jeju.
Considering that the average summer precipitation (from 1991 to 2020) in Geoje and Tongyeong is 935.1 mm and 728.8 mm respectively, the two regions received a full summer's worth of rain in less than three and a half days.
Rain fell across the country over the Liberation Day holiday as a low-pressure system, weakened from the 13th Typhoon Dolphin, approached from the southwest of the Korean Peninsula and moved northeastward.
In the Northern Hemisphere, winds blow counterclockwise around low-pressure systems. As the low-pressure system approached, hot and humid winds blew in from the south, and these winds collided with the terrain, pouring rain onto the southern coast and Jeju.
In particular, as the low-pressure system moved closer to the Korean Peninsula, the distance to the high-pressure system in the northeast of the country also shortened, narrowing the wind corridor in between. This caused strong southerly winds to blow, resulting in record-breaking precipitation.
The sea surface temperature on the south side was as high as 27 to 28 degrees Celsius, and the fact that the southerly winds carried a large amount of water vapor was also analyzed as a factor that increased precipitation.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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