national

Heavy snow, strong winds hit northern Japan

11 Comments

Parts of northern Japan are experiencing are rare heavy snowfall and strong winds for mid-March.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said that Friday -- which was Spring Equinox Day -- saw record snowfall of 115 centimeters for March in Nemuro, Hokkaido, with more snow forecast for Saturday, TBS reported.

Coinciding with the three-day holiday weekend, a low pressure system moved in, bringing the unseasonably cold and unstable weather to Hokkaido, Aomori, Niigata and Nagano prefectures. Hachinohe in Aomori saw 40 cms of snow.

In the Hokkaido town of Teshikaga, weather monitors recorded wind speeds of 30.2 meters, TBS reported. Eight cities and towns across Hokkaido lost power and citizens were forced to stay in emergency shelters Friday night.

Police said that in Nagano Prefecture, a 70-year-old man from Chiba, who was among a group of five skiers, died after they were caught in a sudden avalanche and died.

The Meteorological Agency forecast that the heavy snowfall is likely to continue throughout Saturday.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

11 Comments
Login to comment

And it is coming to US. We are expecting more snow starting Sat night to Sunday. Thank God. Well, we need moisture for all farmers here. And we do not want to see any more wild fires this summer. Good news!!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I've waited all month for a free weekend to go out and get the allotment ready for planting. Now here it is and the wind is too strong to do anything. Dang. Hopefully it will be less windy tomorrow.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Parts of northern Japan are experiencing are rare heavy snowfall and strong winds for mid-March.

This is not true at all, seems that people have a short memory. It happened similarly just last year when at the end of March it started again to snow heavily with a strong storm. Weather conditions in March have been miserable in Hokkaido from at least the last three years.

Tired of this snow and aggressive climate in Hokkaido, this is tiring and just not healthy. Maybe the time came to move South, North regions are ugly, really. Don't come to Hokkaido, it sucks.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

@daito_hak

"Weather conditions in March have been miserable in Hokkaido from at least the last three years."

"Don't come to Hokkaido, it sucks"

thanks for the tip....

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but this has been my first complete winter in Hokkaido and I have to say Hokkaido is definitely 'alive', but it certainly doesn't suck. For me, as long as I can get a little bit of sun almost every day as I usually can in Hokkaido, I can handle shoveling snow, even up to 3 times a day from time to time. The air is fresh and the temperature within reason. It doesn't suck, in my opinion.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This is a matter of opinion, but you said it by yourself, this is your first complete winter in Hokkaido, right? Is that long enough to judge the whole thing? Not sure, I guess.

I have been living here for 12 years, yes 12 full winters in Hokkaido. If you like skying maybe you can have some fun here, but you will be put very quickly to the reality: dangerous roads in winter, car getting damaged, increased time to commute by car, shoveling a ton of snow for 4.5-5 months, heavy snow almost every day, blizzards, and not to forget an endless winter. Then follows usually poor springs (last year spring was a mess) and often short summers (with a lot of rain).

Spending 4.5-5 months of harsh winter conditions every year for a whole life, hummmm, doesn't sound exiting, does it?

Now if you say that you like to shovel snow three times a day, good for you. I feel more that I should do better and more interesting things in my life. Coming back from work and having to remove this snow almost every day during some weeks is painful, just painful. Anyone living here hates it. And no, you don't get sun everyday in Hokkaido, you get an illusion of a sunny day on morning quickly followed by a snow storm. Winters are usually dark here anyway.

Yes the air is fresh but that depends on where you live, the temperatures within reason, again depends on where you live. Go have a look far East, they get easily -20 to -30 degrees C in winter.

Sorry I stand to it, it sucks.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

This is normal for northern Japan north of Sendai. That's why the sakura season in Hokkaido is usually in very late April to early May.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I know it's normal that's not my point. The topic here is about the burden associated with the climate. Please read carefully, thanks.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Spending 4.5-5 months of harsh winter conditions every year for a whole life, hummmm, doesn't sound exiting, does it?

Welcome to life in snow country, bub. Everyone knows it's like this!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Thank you very much too! The snow was great in Nagano Saturday.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites