First Severe Heat Wave Alert Issued for Capital Area... Heat-Related Illnesses Exceed 2,000

[Anchor]

As the center of the extreme heat wave baking the country shifts from the Yeongnam region to the western parts, the highest level of heat wave alert has been issued for the capital area for the first time. The number of heat-related illness patients continues to rise, surpassing 2,000.

Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon reports.

[Reporter]

Yesterday, on August 3, the mercury in Seoul soared to 36.7°C (98°F), marking the highest temperature of the year.

[Kim Eun-ryul / Seodaemun-gu, Seoul: It takes your breath away and you just keep thinking about how you don't want to go outside. If I don't use a parasol, I feel like I'm going to die, so I carry it around.]

[Kim Sam-ha / Seodaemun-gu, Seoul: Walking around outside, the sunlight and humidity make it so hard.]

Looking around the Yeouido Hangang Park area through a thermal imaging camera, not only the asphalt roads but even the park appear glowing red.

Surface temperatures reach 50°C (122°F).

Buildings baked by the sun all day are displayed in bright crimson.

The highest level of heat wave alert, the severe heat wave warning, has been issued for Seoul and parts of Gyeonggi Province.

This is the first time a severe heat wave warning has been issued for the capital area.

While scorching heat continues in the Yeongnam region, with Goryeong in Gyeongsangbuk-do reaching 41.2°C (106°F) and Miryang in Gyeongsangnam-do hitting 41°C (106°F), easterly winds crossing the mountain ranges since yesterday have been pumping hot air into the western regions.

Severe heat wave warnings were also issued across South Jeolla Province and Gwangju, including Gwangyang, which recorded 41.1°C (106°F).

Gyeongsangnam-do Yangsan, which had continuously broken historical weather observation records by exceeding 40°C (104°F) for five consecutive days, stopped at 39.4°C (103°F) yesterday.

With another death reported in Incheon, the death toll from heat-related illnesses this year has risen to 16.

As cumulative heat-related illness patients surpassed 2,000, 18 patients were tallied in Seoul alone as of the day before yesterday.

Typhoon Dolphin, the 13th typhoon, is moving westward over the seas approximately 2,200 kilometers away from South Korea.

Dolphin is expected to pass through the seas west of Okinawa, Japan, around Saturday this week, but it remains unclear whether it will affect South Korea's pressure systems.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video reporting: Seol Chi-hwan and Kim Se-kyung | Video editing: Won Hyung-hee | Design: Seo Hyun-jung and Im Chan-hyeok)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.