Late-Season Winter Storm Hits Northern China and South Korea, Bringing Heavy Wet Snow

Pre-dawn on Monday, workers in South Korea’s northeastern mountains hauled shovels and brooms onto the curved roofs of plastic greenhouses, racing to clear a heavy, slushy snow before it could buckle the thin frames. More than 1,000 kilometers away in northern China, officials in Hebei province convened emergency meetings as radar screens filled with the same sprawling late-season storm system.

A powerful winter storm that began over northern China on Sunday is sweeping east across the Korean Peninsula, bringing heavy, unusually wet snow, strong winds and widespread disruption to two of Asia’s largest economies just as both had begun to shift toward spring.

Hebei, which encircles Beijing and Tianjin, activated a Level IV emergency response for major meteorological disasters on Sunday—the lowest in China’s four-tier system but a formal signal for agencies across the province to mobilize. Provincial authorities warned of heavy snow and possible blizzard conditions through Monday in cities including Shijiazhuang, Cangzhou and Hengshui, with accumulations of 10 to 20 centimeters expected in some areas.

In South Korea, the national weather agency issued heavy snow advisories for parts of Gangwon Province as a low-pressure system passing south of Jeju Island and moist easterly winds pushed bands of snow and rain across nearly the entire country. Forecasters warned that mountainous areas of Gangwon could see 10 to 30 centimeters of snow through Tuesday, with local totals exceeding 40 centimeters and snowfall rates briefly reaching 5 centimeters per hour.

“Rain or snow will fall nationwide on Monday due to the influence of a low-pressure system passing south of Jeju Island,” Lee Chang-jae, a forecast official at the Korea Meteorological Administration, said in a briefing carried by local media. “Gangwon’s Yeongdong region will see very heavy snow as easterly winds add to the system.”

Authorities on both sides of the Yellow Sea said the storm threatened to disrupt road and rail links, delay flights and ferries, and damage fragile agricultural infrastructure that is especially vulnerable to the weight of wet spring snow.

Hebei moves early as snow spreads across northern China

State media said Hebei’s decision to trigger a Level IV emergency response on March 1 came as its provincial meteorological observatory warned of heavy snowfall from Sunday into Monday, with blizzard conditions possible in pockets of the south and central regions.

Under China’s emergency framework, Level I represents the most severe situation and Level IV is the lowest, but all four levels activate a coordinated response. In Hebei, local departments were ordered to strengthen real-time weather monitoring, carry out risk assessments, remove safety hazards, and prepare for “disruptions to transport, urban operations and greenhouse agriculture,” according to an official notice.

The storm is part of a broader cold wave that has brought snow to multiple parts of northern and central China at the start of March, complicating road travel and pushing up heating demand at a time of year when many cities are preparing to wind down their winter services.

Meteorologists and local officials warned that the snow could be particularly damaging to plastic-film greenhouses used to grow vegetables and flowers through the winter and early spring. These lightweight structures, common across Hebei’s rural counties, are known to collapse when wet snow accumulates on their roofs.

While detailed casualty and damage figures were not yet available Monday, officials said the pre-emptive activation of emergency plans was intended to lessen the impact on the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei industrial corridor, a heavily populated region that serves as a hub for manufacturing, logistics and ports.

Korea braces for heavy, wet snow and hazardous roads

In South Korea, the weather agency said precipitation would begin as rain or a rain–snow mix overnight Sunday and spread across most regions on Monday, with the form and intensity varying by altitude and latitude.

The heaviest snow is forecast in the mountainous interior of Gangwon Province, especially the Yeongdong region along the east coast, and in parts of northeastern North Gyeongsang Province. According to Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) guidance reported by local outlets, mountains in Gangwon are expected to receive 10 to 30 centimeters of snow through Tuesday, with some ridges topping 40 centimeters as moist air from the East Sea is forced upslope.

Forecasters stressed that the snow would be unusually dense.

“The snow will contain large amounts of moisture and weigh two to three times more than typical snowfall,” the KMA said in a weather statement, warning that the added weight could damage plastic-covered greenhouses and temporary buildings, snap branches and power lines, and trigger localized structural failures.

Inland areas of central South Korea, including parts of eastern Gyeonggi, North Chungcheong and North Jeolla provinces, were expected to see 1 to 5 centimeters of snow. In Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan region, temperatures hovering around freezing meant most of the precipitation would fall as rain, with a possibility of wet snow late Monday or early Tuesday and minor accumulations, generally less than one centimeter.

Even modest snow in the capital can be problematic when it falls on cold road surfaces after rain, creating patches of black ice on bridges and elevated highways. City officials have in previous winter storms temporarily closed major arterial roads and riverside expressways as a precaution.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said it was monitoring conditions closely and coordinating with local governments on snow removal, road controls and ferry or mountain trail closures. Heavy snow in March last year led to the suspension of dozens of ferry routes and flights, as well as school closures in parts of Gangwon and the east coast.

Farmers and commuters at the sharp end

For many residents, the timing of the storm added an extra layer of difficulty. South Korea had experienced unseasonably mild, spring-like conditions through late February, with temperatures well above normal and the first reports of yellow dust, before a sharp drop in temperatures and the arrival of the current system.

Similar swings have played out in northern China, where forecasts of early spring conditions have given way to renewed cold and snow.

Greenhouse farmers in both countries are on high alert. In recent winters, heavy snowstorms have crushed thousands of plastic-roofed greenhouses from Hebei to Gangwon, wiping out crops just before the lucrative late-winter and early-spring harvest. Officials in both regions have urged farmers to reinforce structures and clear snow as it falls.

Road users are also at risk. In January, a cold wave and snow in South Korea contributed to multiple fatal accidents on icy roads. Authorities have since emphasized early warnings and urged drivers to avoid nonessential travel during heavy snow and to use public transportation where possible.

A familiar storm, in an increasingly erratic winter

Heavy snow in March is not unprecedented in either northern China or the Korean Peninsula. Climatological data show that northeastern coastal and mountainous areas of Korea, including Gangwon’s Yeongdong region, regularly see snow well into March, while Beijing and surrounding Hebei often record late-season flurries during cold snaps.

What has drawn attention in recent years is the combination of late-season timing, the intensity of some storms and the swings between unusually warm and cold conditions.

In March 2025, a snowstorm dumped more than 40 centimeters of snow on some Gangwon mountain passes and brought accumulations to Seoul, prompting the latest heavy snow advisory for the capital since record-keeping for such alerts began in 1999. In Beijing, a March cold wave last year led authorities to extend the city’s centralized heating season beyond its usual end date.

This year’s storm arrives amid reports of record-breaking late-winter warmth in parts of western Europe and a series of intense blizzards in North America, underscoring what scientists describe as increasing variability in winter weather patterns. Researchers have pointed to factors such as La Niña-like conditions in the Pacific and disruptions in the polar jet stream that can funnel cold Arctic air into mid-latitude regions, even as average global temperatures rise.

Meteorological agencies in both China and South Korea have urged the public to focus on practical preparations while the storm is ongoing: checking heating systems, avoiding unnecessary travel, securing outdoor structures and paying particular attention to vulnerable infrastructure.

By Monday afternoon, snow was expected to continue over parts of Hebei and much of eastern South Korea, gradually tapering from west to east through Tuesday. Whether the storm ultimately enters local memory as a major event will depend less on its final snow totals than on how well roads, power networks and greenhouse roofs hold up under the weight of an unusually heavy March snow.