Forecasts describe the weather as the “severest cold since 2001”. In the capital Pyongyang, minus 19 degrees were measured on Tuesday, almost nine degrees below the average, the state radio station reported. The provinces in the north, Ryanggang, North Hamgyong and South Hamgyong were hit hardest by the cold snap.
Strong winds are also expected in coastal regions, which makes the low temperatures all the more noticeable. According to the forecasts, the extreme weather conditions across the country are expected to last until Thursday. State television has been calling on people to take precautionary measures since Saturday.
fuel scarce
However, little is known about the effects of the extreme cold on the population. Electricity is scarce outside of Pyongyang. North Korean households typically burn wood, charcoal briquettes and dried plants for heating, online portal NK News reported. Many would just insulate doors and windows with simple plastic sheeting.
The situation is exacerbated by the chronically poor supply situation from which the country with its 25 million inhabitants is suffering. In December, Radio Free Asia reported that a “large number” of people were missing during another extreme cold spell – many believed to have either starved or frozen to death as temperatures dropped below freezing and food became scarce.
nutritional situation tight
Food insecurity in North Korea is said to be at its worst since widespread famine in the 1990s, according to Lucas Rengifo-Keller, an analyst at the US-based Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). According to UN organizations, more than 40 percent of the population does not have regular access to food.
Tuesday’s cold wave warning came as Pyongyang prepares to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army. Satellite images showed troops and heavy vehicles rehearsing throughout the winter for the February 8 parade. It is unclear whether the rehearsals can continue during the extreme cold.
South Korea also warns
South Korea also issued a cold and snow warning on Tuesday. In some places, traffic on the ground, on water and in the air came to a standstill. In Seoul, the thermometer showed minus 16 degrees Celsius, the lowest since 1927 with a temperature of minus 23.1 degrees. In Gangwon province, it even fell below minus 25 degrees.
The hardest-hit region was Jeju Island, where all 476 flights were canceled and around 43,000 passengers were stranded, according to the Jeju Regional Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Prime Minister Han Duck Soo called on Monday to prepare for power outages, burst pipes and agricultural damage.
Temperatures in Japan are also expected to fall to their lowest levels in a decade this week. “It’s going to be the worst cold of this winter. Avoid going out unless necessary,” the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the Ministry of Infrastructure warned on Monday. Up to 90 centimeters of fresh snow is expected in the northern region of Hokuriku. In the Kanto-Koshin region, it should be 70 centimeters. It’s also supposed to snow in Tokyo itself.
Historical cold in China
Historic cold also settled over the northern Chinese province of Heilongjiang. The lowest temperature ever measured in China was reached in the city of Mohe, at minus 53 degrees Celsius. As the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, the record of minus 52.3 degrees from 1969 was broken on Sunday in the northernmost city of the People’s Republic on the border with Russia.
Temperatures in Mohe have fallen to more than minus 50 degrees for three days in a row. Snow and ice reigned in the city for eight months of the year, with an annual average temperature hovering around minus three degrees, Xinhua reported. This continues the trend towards more extreme weather phenomena. Last summer, China experienced a historic drought that sent numerous rivers and lakes, including the Yangtze, to low levels. As a result, some places in China even experienced power shortages.
In Austria, the lowest temperature ever measured is minus 52.6 degrees Celsius. This value was measured on February 19, 1932 in the Grünloch depression near Lunz am See. The lowest temperature ever measured worldwide was minus 89.2 degrees Celsius on July 21, 1983 in Antarctica.
