Korea’s rainy season, Jangma

 

Have you noticed the heavy rainfalls lately? If you have spent at least one summer in Korea, this may be something you are used to. If not, the sudden rain rather beautiful summer days may throw some people off. In case you are new to the country, the rainy season in Korea is known as Jangma (long period of rain due to the congestion of polar fronts formed in Korea around early summer every year).

It varies by region, but appropriately 30~50% of the peninsula’s total annual rainfall comes down during jangma. Korea’s weather during the summer, however, varies tremendously since the duration of monsoon season or the amount of rainfall differ every year. Especially with climate change such as global warming on the horizon, jangma has gotten even more unpredictable with greater deviations.

Autumn rainy season(autumn jangma) may occur from early August to late September, which can be attributed to Korea’s climate characteristics; autum jangama refers to a short spell of rainy season that occurs when the summer rainy front is pushed to the north and then retreated due to the weakening of North Pacific front. Autumm jangma doesn’t happen every year, but it may cause serious damage if it is linked to typhoons right around the harvest season.

We learned about the rainy (monsoon) season in Korea. Make sure you walk and drive safely during the jangma season, and take care!