A thermal-camera image shows downtown Seoul's Jongno-gu glowing red. In thermal imaging, higher temperatures appear red while lower temperatures appear blue. [Newsis]
A thermal-camera image shows downtown Seoul's Jongno-gu glowing red. In thermal imaging, higher temperatures appear red while lower temperatures appear blue. [Newsis]

Temperatures in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, soared to 39.9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

Both Yangsan and Busan broke their all-time temperature records that day.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration's minute-by-minute observation logs, Yangsan recorded 39.9 C twice — at 1:53 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. It was the highest temperature ever measured there since weather monitoring began on Dec. 26, 2008.

The record had already fallen just days earlier: on Sunday, Yangsan reached 39.3 C, surpassing the previous all-time high of 39.3 C set on Aug. 3, 2024, only to be eclipsed again three days later. Under meteorological record-keeping rules, when two readings are identical, the more recent one takes precedence.

Busan also hit 38.6 C on Wednesday, the highest temperature recorded there since modern weather observation began on April 9, 1904 — a span of 122 years. The previous record was 37.3 C, set on Aug. 14, 2016.

The extreme heat is expected to persist as a dual high-pressure system — the North Pacific High and the Tibetan High — continues to blanket the Korean Peninsula, raising the likelihood that temperatures will exceed 40 C somewhere in the country this year.

If any region tops 40 C this year, it would mark the third consecutive year such a threshold has been crossed, following 2024 and 2025, likely prompting assessments that 40-degree heat has become the new normal.


husn7@heraldcorp.com