Korea gets an obscene amount of snow

I already mentioned, in a previous blog post, the unusual winter that Korea has experienced this year.

During the last few days, the unusual winter weather has continued, notably on the eastern coast of Korea, where a "snow bomb" occurred.

What's a "snow bomb"?
It's a winter storm that delivers, over the course of a few days, an obscene quantity of snow.

How much snow, exactly?
Well, some cities on the coast of the north-easternmost province of South Korea, called Gangwon-do (강원 도), received over a meter of snow.
Yup, more than 100 centimetres of snow!
Needless to say, that much snow can seriously disrupt human activity.

The snow started in 강원 도 on the week-end.  By Monday, it was snowing pretty much everywhere on the east side of the country, even in Busan.  According to my Korean friends, snow in Busan is a rare occurrence.  Though snow may fall a few times per winter, it apparently only covers the ground once every few years or so.  But yesterday, about 7 cm of snow fell on Busan, and it was light, and fluffy, and covered the ground, and caused some pretty intense traffic chaos.  So unusual was this occurrence that it made the national news.  The Korean Broadcast System published photos of Haeundae beach, a popular tourist destination in south-east Busan, on its English web-site.

The snow made my neighbourhood look like this:

Shortly after the snow begins to fall.

Shortly after the snow begins to fall.

Late afternoon, on the day of the storm.

Late afternoon, on the day of the storm.

In the evening, after the worst of it.

In the evening, after the worst of it.

In the evening, after the worst of it.

After the storm, on a quiet street.

Snow in the intersection.

Snowy rooftops.

In a children's playground.

Clearing the snow from the road.

Sunrise, on the morning after.

At sunrise, on the morning after.

Early morning, the day after the storm.

A car, stranded the night before.

Sunset, on the day after the storm.

Sunset, on the day after the storm.