Photo/Illutration Snow brought in from elsewhere is dumped during a Jan. 7 ceremony at Odori Park in Sapporo’s Chuo Ward ahead of the Sapporo Snow Festival to be held next month. (Fumiko Yoshigaki)

SAPPORO--The one thing this northern city is normally not short of at this time of year is snow, lots of it.

But just 54 centimeters fell in December in Sapporo, 41 percent of average, causing alarm bells to ring for organizers of the 71st Sapporo Snow Festival, which starts Feb. 4 and draws many visitors from overseas.

Ski resorts in Sapporo have also had to scale back their activities, and festival organizers are struggling to secure sufficient snow to ensure that there will be the usual range of magnificent ice sculptures.

At a ceremony held Jan. 7 to haul in snow to Odori Park, the main venue, Ryu Shibata, president of the organizing committee, tried to put on a brave face, saying, “We are determined to overcome difficulties and make the festival a success.”

The event typically requires the equivalent of 6,000 five-ton trucks of snow.

As the Takino Makomanai cemetery in Sapporo's Minami Ward, where large volumes of snow are usually gathered, received less snow in December, the shortfall is being covered by outlying municipalities, such as Kyogoku, Kucchan and Shin-Totsukawa.

December's snowfall was below the monthly average at all major 22 observation points in Hokkaido, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency's Sapporo Regional Headquarters.

The overall figure was 48 percent of the average snowfall, a record low since 1961 when statistics started being kept.