Heat wave grips South Korea

After a deadly monsoon season ended, a heat wave is parboiling South Korea, depriving many people of sleep during "tropical" nights, weather officials said Wednesday.

The so-called "tropical" nights were reported for four days in a row in the nation's southern and eastern regions which suffered most in torrential monsoon rains in mid- and late July. About 50 people were killed or missing, mostly in those regions.

"The weather is crazy. It's really difficult to sleep," Lee Hwa-ja, a 62-year-old housewife in Seoul said of the heat wave gripping the country.

A tropical night refers to a phenomenon in which the lowest morning temperature of a region hovers over 25 degrees Celsius.

Weather officials said the lowest temperatures in the southeastern coastal city of Pohang did not fall below 26.8 degrees Celsius in the morning. The parboiling also continued in the nation's southern and eastern parts, the officials said.

The lowest morning temperatures of Gangreung, Cheonju, Gwangju, Daegu and the southern island city Cheju stayed between 25 and 26 degrees Celsius, they said. Seoul and Incheon reported 24.2 and 25.1 degrees Celsius, respectively.

For Wednesday, weather officials forecast mostly clear skies for most of the country, with the temperature rising as high as 35 degrees Celsius in Daegu in the afternoon.

The highest temperature in Seoul will be 32 degrees Celsius, similar to what was reported on Tuesday, they said, adding that some western coastal areas may have thunderstorms with lightning.

The hot weather conditions are expected to ease by the end of August, they said.

Seoul, Aug. 2 (Yonhap News)