During the rainy season, especially in summer, Korea can experience heavy rains that sometimes exceed 300 mm per day. The resulting floods can cause damage to buildings, crop fields, roads, and other infrastructure. Meteorological forecasts help predict heavy rains and special advisories or warnings are issued to help people prepare. Korea has a long history of meteorological record keeping and developed an early rainfall gauge around 1440 A.D. Today Korea has a network of precipitation and water level gauging stations in streams across the country that measure and record conditions every ten minutes. A flood control system with a total of 46 flood control offices is spread nationwide. These offices help prevent floods by holding and shifting waters in response to changing river levels.

  Winter conditions in Korea can sometimes be favorable for heavy snowfalls. This can result in buildings being damaged, roads becoming inaccessible, and businesses temporarily closing. The Korea Meteorological Administration issues advisories and warnings in advance of heavy snowfalls. The satellite image above was taken after a heavy snowfall in March 2004. Cold winds blowing from China picked up moisture from the warmer Yellow Sea, dumping thick snow across Korea. The white area across the middle of the Korean Peninsula is snow cover. White areas over the East Sea are clouds. The government declared special disaster zones for areas damaged during this storm.