Umbrellas Optional? East Asia's Monsoon Rains Are No Longer a Sure Thing

New York Times

3 days ago

South Korea's rainy season is historically several summer weeks when rain can fall in sheets at a moment's notice. But these days, Choi Moon-hee doesn't bother carrying an umbrella around Seoul anymore, even during the official monsoon season.
On Tuesday evening, she lost her bet, getting caught in a shower after days without rain. It was the first downpour she had experienced since forecasters declared the start of the monsoon two weeks ago.
'In the past, if it started raining, it would last for about a half-month, and we'd use our umbrellas often,' said Ms. Choi, 43, while taking cover under the awning of a building. 'Nowadays, it often doesn't rain even when the forecast says it will.'
In the south of the country, forecasters already declared the rainy season to be over last week. In western Japan, it was declared over in late June, the earliest point since records began.
East Asia's rainy season has traditionally run from the middle of June into July, when a stationary weather front brings prolonged rainfall to the region. But the annual rains have become less predictable since the late 1990s, and scientists say that climate change is a major factor in that shift.
Climate change, which has worsened extreme weather around the world, has also made the monsoon season more inconsistent in India and China, catching billions of people off guard with floods and droughts.
See temperatures as...
Degrees above or below average for July 9
Sources: University of Maine Climate Change Institute and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Global Forecast System
Notes: Forecasts are for 8 p.m. Eastern on July 8, 2025, to 8 p.m. on July 9, 2025. Averages based on data from 1979 to 2000.
By Lazaro Gamio and Zach Levitt
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