(LEAD) Seoul faces season's first heat wave advisory

(ATTN: UPDATES with season's first heat wave warning in southeast in paras 6-7)

SEOUL, June 8 (Yonhap) -- The season's first heat wave advisory will be issued in Seoul this week, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said Monday.

The KMA said the heat wave advisory will be in effect from 11 a.m. Tuesday in eastern Seoul, three areas of Gyeonggi Province -- Pocheon, Yangju and Uijeongbu -- and the central city of Cheongju.

This is the first heat wave advisory of the year in Seoul.

A heat wave advisory is issued when the highest sensible temperature is projected to exceed 33 C for more than two days, or damage is expected due to prolonged hot weather.

The KMA issued a heat wave advisory Monday for Daejeon, Sejong and a number of inland cities and counties nationwide, including Yongin and Icheon of Gyeonggi, Chuncheon and Wonju of Gangwon, Cheonan and Gongju of South Chungcheong, Chungju and Jecheon of North Chungcheong, Jeonju and Iksan of North Jeolla, and Andong and Pohang of North Gyeongsang.

Gyeongsan was hit particularly hard by the sultry weather, as this year's first heat wave warning was issued for the North Gyeongsang city, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 3:30 p.m. The maximum apparent temperature soared to 37.5 C in Gyeongsan, also just south of Daegu.

A heat wave warning is issued when the highest sensible temperature is projected to exceed 35 C for more than two days.

"The whole country will be generally clear but the maximum apparent temperatures will rise to 33 C or higher until Wednesday under the influence of high pressure located in the East Sea," the KMA said, while forecasting sporadic rain for Jeju Island and the southern regions between Thursday and Sunday.

The onset of heat waves coincided with Monday's full-scale resumption of classes at elementary and secondary schools across the country. About 1.35 million more students -- in the first grade of middle school and the fifth and sixth grades of elementary school -- went back to their classrooms on the day in the final round of the government's four-phased reopening plan, which started with high-school seniors on May 20.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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