Autumn Skies

[Anchor Lead]

Autumn seems to have snuck up on us, a welcome presence after an unbearably long and intense heat wave. Autumn skies in Korea are marked by its sparkling azure hue. Today we find out what makes autumn skies so blue and clear.

[Pkg]

Seoul's visibility recorded 20 kilometers, about twice the usual distance, to bring even distant mountains clearly into view. Autumn cosmos flowers are in full bloom around the Hangang River.

[Soundbite] Choi Yu-seol(Seoul Resident) : "As recent as a few days ago, it was so hot that I didn't want to come outside, but now the sky is really blue and the breezes are refreshing."

Cool air rolled into the Korean Peninsula last weekend to chase away the long heat wave and color the autumn sky in a sparkling blue. There are usually lots of water vapor particles in the atmosphere during summer, which disperse the sunlight to make the air appear hazy. But the recent arrival of cold and dry air from the north has dramatically reduced the amount of water vapors in the air to render the sky bluer. Such phenomenon grows more prominent in September because of the migratory anticyclone.

[Soundbite] Kim Seong-muk(Weather Forecaster and Analyzer, KMA) : "In autumn Korea is largely affected by migratory anticyclone. Descending air currents keep dust particles from floating up and the amount of water vapors in the atmosphere is reduced to make the sky appear bluer and clearer."

The concentration of fine particulates is projected to remain low until late September, so Koreans can enjoy even clearer and bluer skies until then.