Does It Snow in Korea? Snow Days by City and Seoul's 2026 First Snow

Last updated: 9 November 2026. Snow days, days with snow on the ground and first- and last-snow dates are the Korea Meteorological Administration's (기상청, KMA) 1991–2020 climate normals, read off the printed tables on 9 November 2026; Seoul's 2026 first snow is from KMA as reported on 8 November; the outlook is KMA's three-month forecast of 23 October 2026 and its one-month forecast of 5 November 2026. Sources are listed at the end.

Yes, it snows in Korea, but how much depends on where you stand. In a normal winter KMA's observers in Seoul see snow fall on about 24 days, and the ground carries at least 1 cm of snow on about 16 days, almost all of them between December and February. Busan sees snow fall on about 4 days a year and has lying snow on about one. Jeju City sees flakes on 18 days but snow on the ground on only 3, while Hallasan above it stays white all winter. The surest snow is in the Gangwon highlands, around Daegwallyeong and the Pyeongchang ski resorts.

And this autumn has already started: Seoul's official first snow of 2026 was observed on the morning of 8 November, 12 days before the normal date of 20 November and 26 days earlier than last winter's 4 December. It did not settle.

Below: the numbers by city, the odds for the month you are visiting, what "first snow" actually means in Korea, and where to go if you want snow you can stand in.

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Watch the 2-minute episode: Seoul's First Snow Is Decided by One Person (Korea Winter Guide) — One observer at one weather station in Jongno decides Seoul's first snow — on paper around 20 November, last winter 4 December.

Watch the 2-minute episode: Korean Ski Resorts 2026–27: $82 Day Pass vs Japan, ₩2,000 Opening Day — High1 day pass ₩111,000 ($82) vs Niseko ¥13,500 ($85), the 2026–27 opening-date targets, KTX from Seoul to Yongpyong and High1’s 3-hour ticket.

Quick answer: does it snow in Korea? The numbers by city

All figures are KMA 1991–2020 normals. A "snow day" counts any snow, sleet or snow pellets seen falling at the station, even if none settles; "days with ≥1 cm on the ground" is KMA's count of days with a measured snow depth of 1 cm or more. Annual figures are the sum of KMA's monthly normals.

Three things follow:

• Seoul is a snowy city by count and a slushy one in practice. About 24 snow days, but only about 5.5 days a year with 5 cm or more on the ground. Most Seoul snow is a few centimetres that is off the pavements within hours.
• Jeju's coast has flakes, not snow cover. Eighteen snow days and three days of lying snow means mostly wet snow and graupel blown in off the sea. The white Jeju you see in photographs is Hallasan and the 1100 Highland road, not the city.
• Busan almost never gets it. One day a year with 1 cm on the ground, on average, and in winter 2025–26 KMA recorded 0.0 cm for the whole season.

Does it snow in Seoul? Yes, and 2026's first snow came on 8 November

KMA announced that its observer at the Seoul weather station in Songwol-dong, Jongno-gu (종로구 송월동 서울기상관측소) saw snow on the morning of Sunday 8 November 2026. That is Seoul's official first snow (첫눈) of the 2026–27 season:

• 12 days earlier than the 1991–2020 normal of 20 November;
• 26 days earlier than last winter's 4 December 2025;
• not settled. Around 10:00 that morning KMA reported rain and flurries across Seoul, Incheon and northern Gyeonggi, and said the precipitation was too light for snow to lie. Press photographs from Myeongdong that day show sleet.

The same day KMA issued the season's first heavy-snow advisory (대설주의보) for the mountains of Inje, Gangwon, and Seoul's morning low was forecast to fall to about 0°C on 10 November, with milder weather expected later in the week; check KMA's latest forecast on weather.go.kr for the days you are here. As of 9 November we found no KMA announcement of an official first snow at Incheon, Suwon, Chuncheon or Daejeon; we will add them as the regional offices report.

So a very early first snow does not mean a white November. In a normal year November gives Seoul 2.3 snow days and 0.6 days with snow on the ground. The snow that stays comes later.

Will it snow when I visit? The odds month by month

KMA 1991–2020 monthly normals. January's lying-snow days in Seoul (7.6) exceed its snow days (7.1) because snow that falls on one day is still on the ground the next.

Planning from those numbers:

• One day in Seoul in January gives you roughly a one-in-four chance of a snowfall that day and a similar chance of snow on the ground. A week in January makes seeing some snow likely.
• December is the month most visitors ask about. December's weather, Christmas and New Year's Eve are in our Korea weather in December guide; the short version is that some snow in Seoul is likely over a week, and lying snow is a bonus.
• If your whole trip is before about 25 November, treat snow in any city as luck, this year's early start included. Go up a mountain instead (below).
• Busan and Jeju City are for cold, wind and rain in winter, not snow.

Where to see guaranteed snow in Korea

City snow is a gamble. These are not:

1. Ski resorts (late November to mid-March). Korean slopes run on machine-made snow, so they open on a run of cold nights, not on the city's first snow. For 2026–27 the first targets are Phoenix Snow Park on 20 November, and Mona Yongpyong and High1 on 27 November, all weather permitting; the full list of targets is in our Korea winter travel guide, and season passes, lift prices and how late Korean resorts announce their dates are in our ski resort guide. Last season Yongpyong and Phoenix opened on 21 November 2025.

2. Daegwallyeong and Pyeongchang (December to March). The Daegwallyeong plateau (대관령) in Pyeongchang, at about 770 m and home to Yongpyong and Alpensia, is one of the coldest places in KMA's normals tables: a January mean of −6.9°C against Seoul's −1.9°C, so snow that falls there stays for weeks. The nearest KTX stop is Jinbu (Odaesan) station on the Seoul–Gangneung line; the plateau and its resorts are a taxi or bus ride from there. Winter festivals here and in Taebaek and Hwacheon are sorted by date and fee in our Korea winter festivals guide.

3. Seoraksan (late October onward). Korea's season starts on its summit. In 2026 the national park office recorded the first snow near the Jungcheong shelter (중청대피소), around 11:40 on 29 October, with a morning low of −2.5°C, nine days later than 2025 (20 October). The catch: from 15 November to 15 December, wildfire-season closures shut the high routes to Daecheongbong; which trails stay open is in our national park closure guide.

4. Hallasan, Jeju (mid-November onward). The uplands at Eorimok and Yeongsil saw their first snow on 18 November 2025, two weeks before Jeju City's. Winter climbing needs crampons and a booking for the summit routes; the rules are in our Hallasan winter guide.

5. Ulleungdo. The snowiest place in our table, with snow on the ground on about 52 days a year, but winter ferries are often cancelled in heavy swell. A gamble for a short trip.

Korea's official first-snow dates by city

"+14" means 14 days after the normal date, "−12" 12 days before. A dash means we found no primary source. Gangneung (강릉) is left out: KMA's Gangwon climate page gives no 1991–2020 first-snow normal for it, and we would rather leave a gap than print an older figure.

The pattern is simple. Mid-to-late November in the capital region and the centre of the country, late November to early December in the southwest and Daegu, December on Jeju's coast, and late December or later in Busan. The mountains are a month or more ahead of all of them.

What counts as "first snow" in Korea (it is less than you think)

Korea's first snow is a single observation, and how it is made explains most of the surprises in the table.

• Seoul's first snow is whatever the observer at the Seoul weather station in Songwol-dong, Jongno-gu sees. Snow in Gangnam does not count if none falls on Songwol-dong. Other cities work the same way: Busan's station is in Daecheong-dong, Jeju's in Geonip-dong.
• It is a visual observation, and sleet counts. KMA defines it as snow or sleet (진눈깨비) confirmed by eye at the station. Snow pellets count too: Jeju's 2025 first snow was 싸락눈 (graupel) at 14:10 on 3 December.
• Nothing has to settle. Of Chuncheon's last ten first snows (2015–2024), KMA counts six that left no measurable depth at all, most of them sleet. Daegu's 2025 first snow fell for about forty minutes and recorded no depth, and Seoul's 2026 first snow did not lie either.
• It often happens at night. Gwangju's came late on the night of 2 December 2025, Daejeon's at about 01:50 on 3 December, Daegu's at about 23:30 on the 4th. A sleeping traveller would have missed all three.

So when a Korean news alert says "첫눈 관측" (first snow observed), read it as "a few flakes were seen at the official station", not a promise of a white street. Koreans follow it anyway because first snow is a romantic marker, a K-drama staple, reported the way other countries report the first cherry blossom.

Seoul: seven first snows in seven winters, 32 days apart

The normal is an average; Seoul's recent winters show the spread around it:

Two things follow for planning. First, the earliest and latest of these seven are 32 days apart (8 November 2026 and 10 December 2020). Second, four of the seven came after the normal date. The full record is wider still: KMA's earliest Seoul first snow is 23 October 1981 and the latest 31 December 1948.

Two of those first snows were real snowfalls, not flakes. The 2024 one turned into Seoul's heaviest November snow on record: 16.5 cm on the ground at the Jongno station on 27 November 2024, beating the November record of 12.4 cm set on 28 November 1972 in a series that goes back to 1907. Last winter's first snow on 4 December 2025 came with a heavy-snow advisory (대설주의보) for Seoul and left 5.1 cm at the station that evening.

Hallasan and the rime warning

Hallasan (한라산) on Jeju is the reason Jeju has two answers. The mountain saw its first snow of the 2025 season early on 18 November, at Eorimok and Yeongsil. On the coast, Jeju City's official first snow was not until 3 December. As of 9 November 2026 we found no report of Hallasan's first snow this season.

That caption is a useful warning: rime (상고대), frozen fog on branches and rocks, turns Korea's high mountains white in November and looks like snow on social media. It does not mean the trails are under snow, or that the city below has had its first snow.

The south: Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Jeju City

• Busan: normal first snow 23 December, among the latest of the major cities (only Ulsan, 24 December, and Changwon, 27 December, are later), and normal last snow 13 February. In winter 2024–25 it came on 7 January 2025, 15 days late; in 2025–26 it came on 7 February 2026, as flakes that melted on contact; KMA records 0.0 cm of snow in Busan for the whole winter. Don't go to Busan for snow.
• Daegu: normal 5 December; last winter it was one day early. About 11 snow days a year, but under 4 with snow on the ground.
• Gwangju: normal 29 November; 2 December last winter. The southwest coast is the exception: cold air over the warmer Yellow Sea builds snow clouds that dump on the Jeolla coast. Last winter Mokpo received 61.7 cm, 19.4 cm above normal and the only one of KMA's 13 visual-observation stations to beat its normal.
• Jeju City: normal 10 December; 3 December last winter, 15 days earlier than 2024's 18 December.

First snow is not a white city: what last winter actually delivered

The real question is whether snow will be on the ground, and last winter the answer was: not much.

• Across KMA's 13 stations with visual snow observation, the average number of snow days in December 2025 to February 2026 was 14.5, close to the normal 15.9.
• But the total new snow averaged 14.7 cm, against a normal of 26.4 cm, about half.
• Seoul had 21.6 cm over the whole winter, 0.9 cm below normal, spread over seven days with a measurable depth: 4, 13 and 14 December, 12, 19 and 23 January and 2 February. The largest single day was 6.2 cm on 2 February 2026.

In a typical Seoul winter you get a handful of days with real snow cover, and warm pavements clear most of it within hours; palace roofs, lawns and Namsan hold it longest. What stays is ice: shaded lanes, hill neighbourhoods such as Bukchon and Ihwa, and palace flagstones are slick the morning after.

What KMA's outlook says for winter 2026–27

Everything in this section is a forecast, not a record, and each figure carries the date KMA issued it.

The months ahead (three-month outlook, issued 23 October 2026):

KMA's reasoning: the tropical Pacific is in a strong El Niño, with September's sea-surface anomaly of +2.5°C the largest on its record for that month, and it expects the El Niño to peak in December. That strengthens high pressure east of Korea and brings in warm, humid air. For January it adds that low sea ice in the Barents–Kara Sea will let cold air break through at times, with sharp temperature drops on occasion.

The next four weeks (one-month outlook, issued 5 November 2026):

Neither outlook forecasts snowfall or snow dates. Our reading, not KMA's: a mild, wet late November and early December means more rain and sleet than snow in Seoul, with snow most likely when one of the forecast cold outbreaks meets a wet spell, as in November 2024. KMA issues the next one-month outlook on 12 November 2026 (then every Thursday at 11:00) and the next three-month outlook, adding February 2027, on 23 November 2026. We update this section with each.

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How to plan a winter trip around snow

• You want to see snow, any snow, in November: go up. Seoraksan's high ground is already white this year, Hallasan's uplands and the 1100 Highland road (1100고지) usually follow from mid-November. Check the trail rules in our closure guide and Hallasan guide first.
• You want snow on Seoul's palaces: January is your best month, then December and February. A single visit day is a coin toss; with a week, keep one morning free for Gyeongbokgung or Changdeokgung the day after a snowfall.
• You want guaranteed snow underfoot: book a ski resort or a night in Pyeongchang. Opening targets for this season are in our winter travel guide, passes and prices in our ski resort guide.
• You are in Seoul for Christmas and New Year's Eve: Seoul Winter Festa, the umbrella for the Cheonggyecheon lanterns and the Gwanghwamun market, is planned for 11 December 2026 to 31 January 2027, snow or no snow; see our Seoul Winter Festa guide.
• You want a snow or ice festival: January and February, in Gangwon; our Korea winter festivals 2026–27 guide sorts them by date, fee and trip from Seoul.
• You are going to Busan or Jeju City: plan for cold, wind and rain, not snow.

Pack for wet as well as cold: much of what falls in Seoul in late November and December is sleet or wet snow near 0°C, and Koreans meet it the way they meet rain, under an umbrella.

For the rest of November around the snow, from Suneung Day to kimjang and the trail closures, see our Korea in November 2026 week-by-week guide.

How to check on the day

• KMA Weather Nuri (날씨누리, weather.go.kr): the official forecast and heavy-snow advisories (대설주의보) and warnings (대설경보), with an English version.
• Search "서울 첫눈" or "부산 첫눈" in Korean news: each regional office announces its city's first snow the same day.
• Watch advisories, not first-snow headlines. An advisory closes Hallasan's summit and mountain roads; a "first snow observed" headline changes nothing.

FAQ

Q: Does it snow in Korea? A: Yes, everywhere except, in most years, Busan and the far south coast. In KMA's 1991–2020 normals Seoul sees snow fall on about 24 days a year and has at least 1 cm on the ground on about 16; Incheon 22 and 13; Jeju City 18 and 3; Daegu 11 and 4; Busan 4 and 1. January is the snowiest month in every city, and the Gangwon highlands around Daegwallyeong and Pyeongchang hold snow from December to March.

Q: Does it snow in South Korea every year? A: In Seoul, yes: every winter has a first snow, and the normal is 20 November. Lying snow varies a lot from year to year: Seoul had 16.5 cm on 27 November 2024, but the whole of winter 2025–26 brought 21.6 cm in seven separate days. Busan can go a full winter without measurable snow, as it did in 2025–26.

Q: Does it snow in Seoul, and when? A: Yes. Seoul's normal first snow is 20 November and its normal last snow 18 March. Snow on the ground is likeliest in January (7.6 days a month on average), then December (3.7) and February (3.3). In 2026 Seoul's first snow was observed on 8 November, 12 days early, but it did not settle.

Q: Has it snowed in Seoul yet this year (2026)? A: Yes. KMA's observer at the Songwol-dong station saw Seoul's first snow of the season on the morning of 8 November 2026, 12 days before the normal date and 26 days earlier than last winter. It was too light to settle.

Q: Does it snow in Busan? A: Rarely. Busan averages about 4 snow days a year and 1 day with snow on the ground. Its normal first-snow date is 23 December, and in winter 2025–26 the first flakes did not come until 7 February 2026; KMA recorded 0.0 cm for the whole winter.

Q: Does it snow in Jeju? A: On the coast, flakes are common (about 18 days a year) but lying snow is rare (about 3 days). Hallasan and the upland roads are snow-covered for much of the winter.

Q: Where can I see snow in Korea in November? A: On the high mountains. Seoraksan's summit area had its first snow on 29 October 2026; Hallasan's uplands usually follow in mid-November. Ulleungdo's normal first snow is 16 November. The first ski resorts target 20–27 November openings, weather permitting.

Q: Will winter 2026–27 be snowy in Korea? A: KMA's three-month forecast of 23 October 2026 gives a 60% probability of a warmer-than-normal November and 50% for December, and leans wetter than normal for both, under a strong El Niño. It warns of occasional sharp cold outbreaks in January. It does not forecast snowfall. The next three-month outlook is due on 23 November 2026.

Sources

• Korea Meteorological Administration, 「한국기후표(1991~2020)」 Climatological Normals of Korea, data.kma.go.kr (PDF), read 9 November 2026: monthly snow days at the staffed (manual-observation) stations, pp. II-876–878; monthly days with snow depth ≥1 cm and ≥5 cm, pp. II-692–696; seasonal extremes, p. II-1017 (first- and last-snow normals for Seoul, Incheon, Suwon, Daejeon, Ulleungdo, Gwangju, Daegu, Jeju and Busan, and Seoul's earliest and latest first snows, 23 Oct 1981 and 31 Dec 1948); monthly temperature normals for Daegwallyeong, p. II-17, and Seoul, p. II-27. Annual totals in our tables are sums of the monthly normals. Daegwallyeong is not among the staffed stations, so it has no snow-day or first-snow normal in this book. Chuncheon's 21 November normal is from KMA's Gangwon climate page.
• KMA regional climate pages (weather.go.kr, 한국 지역별 기후특성), read 28 September 2026. Note on Incheon and Suwon: we use the printed normals (p. II-1017), Incheon 23 November and Suwon 21 November, so on 4 December 2025 Incheon was 11 days late and Suwon 13. A KMA Seoul-area comparison that we could not find online reportedly gave the opposite pair (Incheon 13 days late, Suwon 11).
• Seoul's 2026 first snow, 8 November 2026, as announced by KMA: Asia Economy (8 Nov 2026, 11:36), Hankook Ilbo (8 Nov 2026, 12:10; and 9 Nov 2026, 04:30, for the Inje heavy-snow advisory and the 10 November cold snap), Wikitree (8 Nov 2026, 12:01, for the 10:00 flurries in Seoul, Incheon and northern Gyeonggi and KMA's "will not settle").
• Seoraksan's 2026 first snow: Kyunghyang Shinmun (29 Oct 2026), citing the Seoraksan National Park office.
• KMA Seoul Metropolitan Office, "서울 첫눈 관측" (10 November 2021): the Songwol-dong standard; 2021 and 2020 first snows.
• KMA, "2025년 겨울철 기후특성" (4 March 2026) and KMA Seoul Metropolitan Office, "2025년 수도권 겨울철 기후특성" (4 March 2026): 2025–26 first snows and differences from normal, snow days, snow totals, Seoul's daily depths.
• KMA regional offices: Gangwon (Chuncheon, 4 Dec 2025, incl. the first-snow definition), Gwangju (3 Dec 2025), Jeju (3 Dec 2025), Daegu on Ulleungdo (18 Nov 2025) and on Daegu (27 Nov 2024), Busan (7 Jan 2025).
• KMA three-month outlook, November 2026–January 2027, issued 23 October 2026 at 11:00, weather.go.kr (PDF); KMA one-month outlook, 16 November–13 December 2026, issued 5 November 2026 at 11:00, weather.go.kr (PDF). Both read 9 November 2026.
• Ski-resort opening targets for 2026–27: our Korea winter travel guide, from the resorts' announcements and News1's round-up of 5 November 2026. Last season's openings: our ski resort guide.
• MBC (4 Dec 2025): Seoul first snow 14 days after normal, 8 after 26 Nov 2024. Busan Ilbo and Yonhap (7 Feb 2026): Busan's first snow. Kyunghyang Shinmun (20 Oct 2025): Seoraksan 2025, and its comparison with 19 Oct 2024 and 21 Oct 2023. Yonhap and Newsis (18 Nov 2025): Hallasan. Newsis (27 Nov 2024): Seoul's 16.5 cm November record. Edaily (17 Nov 2023) and YTN (30 Nov 2022): Seoul's 2023 and 2022 first snows. DGMBC and Sisa Journal (Dec 2025): Daegu and Gwangju observation times.