Air transport to and from Tokyo disrupted by cold snap

"And you don't think that maybe Calgary has more experience and infrastructure for dealing with snowfall than Tokyo does?"

I was referring to the airline industry not the guy sweeping the water. Its a Couple hour flight from Calgary to Vancouver and they typlically have Osaka like weather all winter, Vicotria more so and the airports handle inclemate weather no problem...but then your on your own as the two cities have minimal snow removal equipment so you just can't drive anywhere safely.

Breaking news: It's winter

Well near Banff it was -38 the other day and flights out of Calgary never had any issues? Oh and they got a bunch of snow also half meter I think before that.

And you don't think that maybe Calgary has more experience and infrastructure for dealing with snowfall than Tokyo does?

@madmel, that's a damn good point. I lived in Calgary and skiied at Banff and Lake Louise too many times to count - the freak-out over a dusting of snow at such a mild temperature in Tokyo blows me away.

And for any of the rest of you who look at this picture, the old guy is not sweeping snow from the compound of the Imperial Palace, but from a parking lot well outside the compound. I've taken that exact same picture, without a person in it. Bad photo caption.

Well near Banff it was -38 the other day and flights out of Calgary never had any issues? Oh and they got a bunch of snow also half meter I think before that.

@Citizen

As a longtime former resident of the American south, I can concur with your statement. The explanation that I always heard is that places that get a lot of snow (let's say Buffalo) have to invest in the necessary infrastructure and equipment to keep things going all season, but for places such as Atlanta it's better to just shut everything down and wait for the short-term weather to pass rather than waste millions. Tokyo and the Kanto plain seem to have a similar attitude for the most part- I don't see too many snowplows or salt trucks around here.

I think this type of reaction is typical for places that don't experience a lot snow. When I lived in Atlanta, it was basically the same - cancel school, clear out all the bread and milk from the grocery store, etc over a threat of snow. Every so often, you actually do get enough snow and ice that shuts things down, so people are just being cautious.

Ha ha snow clearing Japanese style, brushing away one flake at a time, but on a more serious note, I think we may look back on this era of profligate airplane usage as contributory emissions, causing weather pattern changes.

Are you kidding me?!? The authorities should consider investing in more deicing equipment!

1cm? When I lived in Nigata before, it was 1.5 meters. Life went on. Maybe high heel shoe warnings should be on Tokyo NHK weather reports?

Best to err on the side of caution.

Certainly it wasn’t as cold as expected and there wasn’t as much snow as expected. However, it is still situations that can be categorized as extreme and it is still conditions they are not accustomed to. People can easily make mistakes in such situations and mistakes in this field can cost hundreds of people their lives.

Nice to see the other side of the risk vs profit.