Heavy snow hits western, central Japan, and even Okinawa feels chilly

A cold air mass gripped the Japanese archipelago, bringing heavy snow and gusty winds to a wide area of western and central Japan on Sunday, forcing airlines to cancel many flights and West Japan Railway Co. to reduce the speed of bullet trains on sections of the Sanyo Shinkansen lines.

The blanket of snow reached as far as southwestern Japanese cities such as Nagasaki and Kagoshima and the temperature in Naha, the prefectural capital of Okinawa, dropped to 8.9 C on Sunday morning, far below the average low for January.

Amami Island, a subtropical island located some 380 kilometers southwest of Kagoshima City, also observed snowfall for the first time in 115 years, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

On Kyushu island, Nagasaki saw 15 centimeters of snow, Kagoshima 10 cm and Saga 6 cm.

In the Chugoku region in western Japan where the snowfall was heaviest, the town of Kitahiroshima in Hiroshima Prefecture recorded 142 cm of snow, while Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast in central Japan, saw 59 cm of snow.

Shortly after midnight Saturday, 11 cars and other vehicles were involved in pileups on a road in Fukuoka Prefecture in freezing condition amid snowfall, injuring two men, police said.

Around 6 a.m., six teenagers who climbed the 847.5-meter Mt. Kusembu straddling Fukuoka and Saga prefectures called for help, saying they were unable to descend due to snow. Local firefighters found them near the peak of the mountain and rescued them about 90 minutes later.

The weather agency warned of continued stormy weather in western and central Japan through Monday and further traffic disruption.

Up to 1 meter of snowfall is expected through Monday morning in the Hokuriku region, 70 cm in Chugoku, and 60cm in Tokai and Kinki, according to the weather agency.
 (Kyodo)
 mainichi.jp
24/1/16