'I'd rather a typhoon came': Record heat, vanishing water and the summer wildfires now threatening South Korea

Drought-cracked rice paddies and a wildfire. [Getty Images Bank]

"I'd rather a typhoon came."

As an unprecedented heat wave continues to grip the country, parts of South Gyeongsang Province are now grappling with a severe drought — an unusual crisis on top of the scorching temperatures that has residents deeply worried.

With reservoirs drying up and water-use restrictions already in place, some communities have turned to traditional rain-prayer rituals, hoping the skies will finally change.

Forecasters expect the dry heat to persist at least through mid-August, and fears are growing that the compounding disasters of extreme heat and drought could soon give way to yet another major calamity.

The floor of a rice paddy inside the Hannon crater in Seogwipo, Jeju, is cracked and parched as drought driven by the heat wave drags on. [Yonhap]

That calamity is summer wildfires. Korea's summers have long been defined by heat and humidity, with rainfall spread fairly evenly across the country — meaning wildfire risk was traditionally concentrated in winter and spring.

But rapid climate change is reshaping the nature of disaster. Record-breaking heat waves are driving extreme drought, and that drought in turn is raising the risk of large-scale wildfires year-round.

The upper reaches of Unmun Dam in Cheongdo-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, are choked with weeds as the waterway shrinks amid ongoing drought and heat on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration's climate report for July 2026, rainfall in the Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang region last month totaled just 68 millimeters — only 21.9 percent of the historical average of 304.7 millimeters. It was the lowest July rainfall on record since the national weather observation network was expanded in 1973.

The drought was not a nationwide phenomenon. Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province recorded 353.8 millimeters of rain in July, or 94.1 percent of the average, while Daejeon, Sejong and South Chungcheong Province logged 338.1 millimeters, or 118.9 percent of normal. While other regions were bracing for flood damage, South Gyeongsang was quietly drying out.

Dead fish lie in the last remaining puddle of a nearly dry reservoir at Samsin-ji in Cheongdo-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, on Tuesday afternoon, as the reservoir floor is exposed amid relentless heat and drought. [Yonhap]

South Gyeongsang Province experienced meteorological drought conditions for 20.7 days out of July — more than double the national average of 8.3 days over the same period.

Meanwhile, daytime highs in parts of the south, including Miryang in South Gyeongsang Province, surpassed 40 degrees Celsius, accelerating the heat wave. Clear, rainless skies baked the ground, and the scorched earth stripped moisture from the soil and vegetation — a vicious cycle with no easy exit.

The consequences are now hitting agriculture. In parts of Sancheong-gun in South Gyeongsang Province and Cheongdo-gun in North Gyeongsang Province, a surge in water consumption has triggered rationed tap water supply. The average agricultural reservoir storage rate across South Gyeongsang Province stood at 38.5 percent — barely half the historical norm of 53.1 percent.

A rain-prayer ritual is held Wednesday afternoon at Chisullyeong Pass in Dudong-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan, to pray for drought relief and rainfall. [Yonhap]

This drought differs from the slow-building kind caused by prolonged rainfall deficits. A shortfall in precipitation that began in June was compounded by record heat and clear skies from July onward, causing conditions to deteriorate sharply within just a few weeks. What emerged is what scientists call a "flash drought" — a rapid onset driven by short-term rainfall deficits and high evaporation rates.

Climate change is the underlying cause. Experts say rising temperatures are intensifying heat waves, which in turn increase the frequency of fast-moving droughts. The risk grows when a "dry monsoon" — a rainy season that fails to deliver — coincides with localized downpours that drench some areas while leaving others completely dry.

Commuters carrying umbrellas hurry to work near City Hall Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Yun Chang-bin]

In plain terms, even during the monsoon season, extreme weather is producing a stark divide: torrential rain in some areas and not a single drop in others.

A research team at Chonnam National University's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences found that flash droughts occurred 52 times during summer months between 1992 and 2020 — five times more frequently than droughts caused by rainfall deficits alone, which averaged 9.1 occurrences. Since 2010 in particular, both the frequency and duration of flash droughts have shown a marked upward trend.

The dried-out upper reaches of Bohyeonsan Dam in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. [Yonhap]

Last year offered a stark preview. Gangneung in Gangwon Province implemented water rationing for the first time in history after the storage level at Obong Reservoir — the city's main water supply — fell to a record low of 21.8 percent. Gangneung logged 17 heat wave days in July last year, with temperatures soaring to a high of 38.2 degrees Celsius. The extreme heat accelerated evaporation, pushing the drought to a critical level.

The greater threat looming alongside drought is wildfire. Wildfires in Korea have traditionally been concentrated in the dry winter and spring months. Summer, with its hot and humid climate, has long been considered a relatively low-risk season. Of all wildfires recorded between 1997 and 2024, only 787 broke out during summer — just 5.9 percent of the total over that period.

The exposed upper reaches of Bohyeonsan Dam in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. [Yonhap]

Flash droughts driven by climate change, however, are now raising the risk of summer wildfires — once a rarity. An analysis of Korea Forest Service wildfire statistics in 14-year intervals shows that fires occurring between June and September accounted for 3.0 percent of all wildfires from 1997 to 2010. That share nearly tripled to 8.7 percent in the 2011–2024 period.

Looking back to the 1990s alone, summer wildfires made up just 1.2 percent of the annual total on average. Fires that were almost unheard of in summer just two or three decades ago are now increasing rapidly.

Sustained rising temperatures are also a factor. Research by the National Institute of Forest Science found that for every 1.5-degree Celsius increase in temperature, the Fire Weather Index rises by 8.6 percent. Should the heat wave extend into a relatively dry autumn, wildfire risk could climb even further.

Summer wildfires are already breaking out. Five fires were recorded from last month through early this month — two in South Gyeongsang Province and three in Ulsan. A fire that broke out July 13 on a hillside in Sangnam-myeon, Miryang, burned 0.7 hectares of forest. Forestry authorities deployed seven firefighting helicopters, 38 fire vehicles and about 200 personnel, and evacuation orders were briefly issued to nearby residents.

There is no quick way to break the chain of disasters linking extreme heat, rising temperatures, drought and wildfire. Carbon emissions from human activity continue to drive climate change at an accelerating pace. Experts say the response must include clearly defining the new forms drought is taking and updating preparedness measures accordingly to limit the damage.

"Flash drought damage is already being felt across agriculture and household water supply, and both the frequency and intensity are expected to keep rising," said Jeong Hae-su, a researcher at Next. "Current early-warning systems and drought indices that rely on long-term precipitation data are ill-suited to detecting flash droughts, and they fail to adequately account for the effects of high temperatures and evapotranspiration."

woo@heraldcorp.com