Pedestrians struggle to hold onto their umbrellas as heavy rain, accompanied by strong winds, poured in the southeastern port city of Busan on Aug. 10, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — As the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) is being criticized for the poor accuracy of its weather forecasts, some citizens are choosing to check the weather on foreign meteorological websites instead.
The state weather agency initially forecasted a major heatwave to arrive in the summer, which turned out to be significantly off the mark in a July marked by rain and unseasonably cool weather.
In mid-July, the KMA anticipated that the summer heat would finally arrive in early August, then backtracked a week later with a forecast that the monsoon season would continue.
The continued errors in KMA’s forecasts led some to believe that forecasts made by foreign meteorological agencies and mobile apps, including Windy from the Czech Republic and AccuWeather from the United States, were more accurate.
Netizens are sharing links to foreign websites that they believe offer more accurate weather forecasts.
However, experts argue that foreign weather channels do not necessarily guarantee accurate weather forecasts.
“During the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, athletes and staff from other countries had a high level of trust towards our agency,” a KMA employee noted.
The unusual pattern in this year’s monsoon season is primarily derived from a temperature surge at the North Pole and lower pressure in the North Pacific region, the KMA said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
