THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
January 25, 2023 at 12:51 JST
Pedestrians cross a snowy road in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward on Jan. 24. (Tatsuo Kanai)
A strong winter pressure pattern brought a dumping of heavy snow to many areas across Japan and dropped temperatures to their most frigid levels on record.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said its staff observed the first snow of the season in Tokyo on Jan. 24 at 8 p.m., but it came about a month later than expected.
The snow arrived 21 days later than an average year and 29 days later than last winter.
The agency said as of 5 a.m. on Jan. 25, three locations observed record-low temperatures.
Kosa, Kumamoto Prefecture, saw the mercury plunge to minus 9 degrees, while the temperature in Matsuhama, Niigata Prefecture, reached minus 5.6 degrees, as well as minus 3.1 degrees at the Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture.
Several places notched records for snow.
Maximum snowfall over a 12-hour period hit 74 centimeters in Kaminagata, Okayama Prefecture, 46 cm in Sugadaira, Nagano Prefecture, 6 cm in Wakayama and 4 cm in Kobe, as of 5 a.m. on Jan. 25.
The snow in Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture, measured a record 44 cm deep, while it was 11 cm deep in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, a record high for January.
Heavy snowfall is expected to continue on the Sea of Japan side from western Japan to northern Japan until Jan. 26.
Heavy snowfall is also expected for some flatlands on the Pacific side.
The JMA has forecast snowfall of up to 80 cm in the Tohoku region, 60 cm in Hokkaido and the Hokuriku region, 50 cm in the Kanto-Koshin and Kinki regions, 40 cm in the Tokai region and 30 cm in the Chugoku region over the 24-hour period until 6 a.m. on Jan. 26.
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