[Anchor]

Following the sudden cold snap, another weather variable is on the way. An unusually super-strong typhoon is heading north in late October, which could impact Jeju Island and the southern regions.

Reporter Jeong Gu-hui has the details.

[Reporter]

This is Typhoon Champi currently moving northward.

About 26 typhoons are generated annually on average, but this is already the 30th this year.

As a maximum-intensity Category 5 typhoon, ferocious winds of 209 km/h are whipping around its center.

With a radius spanning an immense 500 km, it is more than large enough to cover the entire Korean Peninsula.

The typhoon is currently moving northwest toward Taiwan.

Because a strong jet stream, or westerly wind, is blowing at an altitude of 5 km over our country, the typhoon is expected to shift its course eastward as it approaches the vicinity of South Korea.

Accordingly, the Korea Meteorological Administration projected that the typhoon will pass north of Taiwan and reach Kyushu, Japan, this coming Sunday.

As the weather has turned colder, the typhoon's intensity is expected to weaken rapidly down to category 1 over the distant waters of the South Sea, and it is projected to dissipate upon reaching Japan.

However, because the typhoon is bringing in massive amounts of water vapor, rain is forecast due to indirect effects: on Jeju Island on Friday, in South Jeolla and South Gyeongsang provinces on Saturday, and extending to the Chungcheong and southern regions on Sunday.

However, the forecasts from Japan and the United States differ somewhat.

Japan expects the typhoon to pass further north through the Korea Strait, anticipating that it will come quite close to Jeju Island.

Should this happen, Jeju Island and the southern coast could fall under the direct influence of the typhoon.

The United States predicted that the typhoon will pass along a path slightly north of the South Korean meteorological agency's forecast and slightly south of Japan's forecast, right in between the two.

We will likely need to monitor the typhoon's path through the weekend.

The latest typhoon to affect South Korea on record was Typhoon Zeb in 1998.

Although it landed in Japan, the Korea Meteorological Administration recorded that South Korea was under the direct influence of the typhoon from October 16 to 18.

If this current typhoon directly impacts South Korea, it will set a record as the latest October typhoon ever.

(Video Editing: Kim Yoon-sung, Design: Cho Su-in)