Hot and sunny days usually dominate the Korean Peninsula at this time of year following a month-long, annual monsoon season.
But the usual climatic pattern has disappeared this year with torrential rains pounding the country. Why the abnormal weather phenomenon?
The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) attributed the weather anomaly to an unstable air mass lingering over the country, which in turn stems from an extraordinary climatic condition known as La Nina.
``The atmosphere over Korea is extremely unstable because the country is located at the edge of a North Pacific high-pressure system,'' said a KMA weatherwoman. But, ``Unlike the past, the high-pressure air system in the North Pacific has not developed enough to put the peninsula under its full influence.''
The weakened high-pressure system has created an extremely unstable air mass where hot and humid winds collide with cold air from northern Manchuria creating powerful rain clouds, she explained.
She added that the cold front in Manchuria had been formed under the influence of low-pressure systems now dumping large amounts of rain over China's Yangtze River.
Due to the unusual weather conditions, torrential rains battered the central parts of the peninsula Wednesday night through early yesterday.
Earlier last week, downpours pounded the southern parts of the country, leaving nearly 100 people dead or missing and causing huge property damage.
The weakening of the high-pressure system stems from an unusual weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, known as La Nina, Spanish for baby girl.
With El Nino fading away, La Nina is exerting its influence, cooling the water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, she said.