Kim Mi-ra, a 58 year old businesswoman in Seoul, has not worn a thick and heavy padded coat this winter. She has so far preferred a thin woolen overcoat or a light jacket. “A heavy padded coat with mufler and gloves do not seem to be necessary this winter. I purchased a high-end goose down parka in October last year but I only wore it once or twice,” said Kim.

Unlike previous years, the winter temperature has remained unusually warm this season. On Sunday, the highest temperature of southern city Busan reached nearly 17 degree Celcius and Jeju Island was 8.5 degree celcius. Seoul also saw highs of 11 degrees Celcius, which is 10 degrees higher than the on year average of 1.7 degrees Celcius, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.

The average temperature of December last year recorded 3.5 degrees Celcius, which is 2 degrees higher on year. This is the highest winter average temperature since 1973, the KMA added.

The average temperature of November was also 10.1 degrees Celcius, which was 2.6 degrees celcius higher on-year. The unusually warm winter atemperature is suspected to be the impact of “Super El Nino” a prolonged warming in the pacific Ocean surface temperature of about 0.5 degrees celcius. If the Ocean surface temperature rises by over 5 deegrees Celcius, it is called “Super El Nino”.

“The weather usually gets colder as the Continental high in the North Pacific high weakens. The Influence of the north pasific high, however , still remains due mainly to El Nino, raising the temperature,’ KMA official said.

The El Nino effect this season is the strongest after the 1997-98 season. It is expected to continue right into spring, they added. The Unusually high temperature this winter has gradually affected public life and also companies. The Sales of winter clothes such as padded coats or outdoor jackets has seen a sharp drop. At Lotte department store, the sales of outdoor jackets dropped by 5.3 percent, while that of fur coats plummeted by 8.6 percent.

Shinsegae department store also saw a similar pattern as the sales of outdoor clothes fell by 9,6 percent and winter accessories including gloves and mufflers declines by 9,3 percent. The warm temperature also affected the agriculture sector. Sangju in North Gyeongsang Province where dried persimmons are widely grown saw production of only about 7,000 tons- 60 percent compared to theprevious season. As a result, the losses are estimated to top 43 billion won ($36 Million), the city said.

Annual ice-related events have also been either called off or postponed. Inje Icefish Festival and Hongcheongang Ggong Ggong Festival in Gangwon Province were canceled due to public safety concerns, the cities said. Inje had canceled the event last year too.

In order to guarantee the safety of visitors, the thicness of the ice must be at least over 20 centimeters. Right now it is around 5 to 10 centimeters, they added. Yeongdong International ice climbing Competition which is slated for Jan. 23-24 in North ChungCheong Province is also likely to be postponed. Other events in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province and Chengju , in North Chungcheong Province have also beed canceled.

While the El Nino effect will likely sustain, the weather is expexted to return to the average temperature levels from Tuesday with lows of -12 to 4 degrees Celcius anticipated accross the country, the weather agency said.

source : The Kore Herald Newspaper; January 5, 2016