Spatiotemporal Variation Characteristics of Strong Winds in Korea during the Recent 30 Years (1988~2017)

In this study, the statistical characteristics of strong winds such as frequency, trend, and spatiotemporal distribution in Korea were examined by using wind data recorded at 61 observations from 1988 to 2017. It is found that the decreasing trend with 7∼10 times a year in the annual frequency of strong winds is statistically significant. Due to East Asian winter monsoon and springtime local downslope windstorm, strong winds occur most frequently in winter and spring and least frequently in summer and autumn. Diurnal variation of strong winds shows the highest frequency at 1300 LST and the lowest one around early morning. Also the frequency of strong winds is higher in coastal areas than in inland areas. The springtime maximum instantaneous wind speed in wildfire-dangerous region of Gangwon province shows a increasing trend in its variation.