Record lack of snow in Japan

[Bonobo]

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/20070211-093731-1022r/

TOKYO, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Japan has set a record for lack of snow, with this winter marking the latest winter date by which snow has not yet been seen, the Japan Times reported.
The previous record for the latest first snow was Feb. 10, 1960. The data for records is compiled by the Meteorological Agency in Tokyo.

Some authorities say this winter may be Japan's first winter without snow since 1876, the earliest year on which data are available.

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Kind of a misleading headline

It HAS snowed in Japan this winter-- but the snowfall amounts are far below normal years, even in the snowy regions along the Sea of Japan coast. For example, there has only been 1 inch recorded in Fukui City, which usually gets more than 50 inches in a normal winter. And Aomori, in the northernmost part of Honshu Island, has so far gotten only about 1/3 of its normal 100 inches of snow this winter.

http://www.sankei.co.jp/ronsetsu/shucho/070212/shc070212000.htm

[Bonobo]

2. It's not misleading Art. There was no snow in Tokyo this whole winter!

It's really fucked up!

The article you just linked says that the Northern regions have only had 3% of their normal snowfall in January and that the odds are starting to look like Tokyo may have the first season with no snowfall in the whole time this has been tracked (130 years!)

[Art_from_Ark]

3. Well, I know there hasn't been any snow in Tokyo this year

but it doesn't seem like a big deal, since measurable snow only falls here (Tokyo area-- Kanto Plain) only once every other year or so. It did snow last year, and there were patches of snow in Tokyo that lasted for a week or so, which is very unusual. But the lack of snow in the northern areas (including the Sea of japan coast) is worrisome, since the spring snowmelt provides much of the water that feeds the drinking water reservoirs.

Water rationing may be in store for us this summer.

[Bonobo]

4. Media here in Japan says that in near future cherry blossoms will bloom

around New Year's Day and summers will be "hard to live in" (seikatsu shizurai).

Scary.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. Well, the Japanese media have been known to be sensation-mongers

Somehow, I don't see the sakura zensen making it this far north on January 1. And it hasn't been so much warmer here, either. Mornings around freezing, afternoons around 55 or so seem to be pretty normal for this time of year, based on my experience.

We've had a dry winter, for sure, but the Kanto Plain is usually dry in winter anyway. What's happening on the other side of the mountains is cause for concern, though.

[Mojorabbit]

8. I lived in Japan in the seventies

Aomori was one of my favorite places and the Nebuta festival something I will always remember.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. How was the snow up in those parts?

I remember going up a mountain in Niigata in May, and there was still a lot of snow around.

But around here, we when do get snow (which is rare), it's pretty slushy, and generally is mostly gone by the next day.

[Mojorabbit]

10. I lived in Misawa

and it seemed to this Florida girl that it snowed six or seven months of the year. :)
I remember driving to Aomori city and they would have cleared the roads and drifts on either side of the road were so high it was like driving in a tunnel. We had 100 to 150 inches of snow a year average back then.

[Art_from_Ark]

12. Brrrrrrr

Sounds a little cold for my tastes.

But this winter, Aomori has had only about 33 inches of snow. It's practically turning tropical :D

[orleans]

6. i just saw that and posted it in the weather group here two minutes

after you posted it.

kinda freaky. (i mean about the lack of snow)

[Bonobo]

7. Indeed.

[Javaman]

11. NY is getting it all. nt