GK:1.3.4 Wind
Geography of Korea: I. Natural Environment > 3. Climate > 4) Wind
4) Wind
The prevailing winds in Korea are the northwest seasonal monsoons that blow in the winter months. These winds emerge out of the “Siberian High” high-pressure system, one of the most powerful high-pressure systems on the planet. In the summer the peninsula is greatly affected by the North Pacific high-pressure system. However, this system is not as strong as winter’s Siberian High, and so in summer Korea does not experience dominating winds from a single direction such as might be termed prevailing winds. However, somewhat dominant during the summer are the southern winds—the southwesterly, southerly, and southeasterly. Along the western coast, although the southwesterly wind is slightly more dominant than the southeasterly, once winter comes the southwesterly is much weaker than the blowing northwest monsoons.
In the spring and fall, migratory anticyclones and temperate cyclones that form in China will often pass through the Korean Peninsula, resulting in changes in wind direction on the ground. Because these migratory anticyclones and temperate cyclones blow out of the west and towards the east, westerlies are continuously blowing in the upper atmosphere of the Korean Peninsula.
In terms of local winds, representative examples are the maritime breezes that blow towards the coastal regions in the summer months, and the so-called Nopsae winds that blows towards the Yeongseo region (the interior areas of Gangwon-do provinces of both North and South Korea) in late spring-early summer. The maritime breezes are the result of differences in temperature between the sea and land, and on sunny days in high summer can blow quite vigorously. The so-called Nopsae winds, northeasterlies that comes off the Sea of Okhotsk, create a Foehn phenomenon as they pass over the Taebaeksanmaek Range, becoming warm, dry winds as they blow down into the Yeongseo region of the interior. “Nopsae” is a traditional Korean word for a northeasterly wind. The Nopsae winds can result in a temperature variance between the Yeongdong and Yeongseo regions of between 5.0 and 7.5˚C (41–45.5°F), though this can be as great as 10˚C (50°F). Naturally, if these Foern winds are very powerful, not just the Yeongseo region but a wide swath territory, including Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Hwanghae-do provinces, will be affected.
