The strongest cold wave of the season has caused record snowfall in the Hokuriku region since Friday night.
In 12 hours from Friday night to Saturday morning, 50 centimeters of snow fell in Niigata City, and 38 centimeters in Aikawa, Sado City, both of which are the highest ever recorded, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Snow has also fallen in areas that usually get less snow, such as Kyushu, Shikoku and the Pacific side of the Tokai region.
Nagoya observed one centimeter of snow for the first time in about a month.
The maximum amount of snow forecast to fall though Sunday morning is expected to be 80 centimeters in the Kanto-Koshin region, and 70 centimeters in Tohoku, Hokuriku and Kinki regions, the agency said.
On the Sea of Japan side, authorities urged caution against poor visibility due to a whiteout.
© Japan Today
39 Comments
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Renny
i enjoy the snow but it’s getting a bit much now. Having to clear lots every morning and evening is great exercise but I’d like a bit of a break
kurisupisu
Global warming is proving to be …cold!
TaiwanIsNotChina
That's why it's called climate change: to help the challenged get the concept.
The_Beagle
Epic ski season!
kurisupisu
@Taiwan
Climate change?
Right!
it’s getting colder and then warmer and colder again….very cold!
Blacklabel
Yeah conveniently changed global warming to climate “change” once it wasn’t getting warmer as claimed for decades.
@Japan Glimpsed
Yes. Warmer ocean temperatures (anthropogenic climate change) meet cold air and mountain ranges and, presto, 1.3 meters of snow in Obihiro, Hokkaido, over 24 hours, a national record. Meanwhile, local areas record historic snowfall, including where I live, in Niigata. That's the mechanism, Kurisupissu.
ClippetyClop
It was changed to help thick people understand that snow can still fall in a warming climate. Previously they presumed that global warming meant that everywhere should be hotter at all times, everywhere, always.
Apparently we underestimated the thickness of these people who are oddly silent during the summer months.
Blacklabel
Yeah “warming” has always meant hot -or- cold. Lol
virusrex
Obvious Misrepresentation that justifies making the name of the disaster much more specific, so science deniers have to use long discarded names and out themselves.
Which is completely inside of the phenomena expected, well known since decades ago, why pretend ignorance about these obvious facts?
Very inconvenient for the antiscience propaganda groups that could no longer use it to misrepresent the situation as if everything was just homogeneously getting warmer instead of the actual situation.
And the world in general is getting warmer, nameless people on the internet not being able to accept reality are not a reason to think otherwise.
Blacklabel
And you are oddly defending in winter that it’s not warm.
im not quiet in summer.
When you complain about how hot it is, I say yep not surprised, we’ve had “summer” my whole life.
we have “winter” too. Which is what is causing snow now.
ebisen
Global warming doesn't mean snow won't fall!!! It means summers are much hotter and the climate change more abrupt and difficult to predict.
Actually global warming can even trigger heavier snow.
... That much I read in an article predicting this situation 30 years ago. It's amazing how we allow ourselves as societies to be led by the uneducated thinking that if they elect billionaires as leaders they'll strive to make the lives of normal people any better.
Blacklabel
you changed it from global warming to…..misrepresent the situation.
get back to me when it snows in summer.
Blacklabel
Why did you “discard” the decades long use of the term “global warming”?
hint: it’s wasn’t warm, globally,
virusrex
Scientists of the world can produce hundreds of reports with evidence of the changing climate, just saying "there was winter and summer since before" do absolutely nothing against that evidence.
No, pretending the changes are just an uniform warming is what it misrepresenting the situation, the actual GLOBAL warming comes with chaotic changes in the local weather, nothing surprising here since decades ago. The change of names make the antiscientific propaganda more difficult.
Because bad actors were trying to use that denomination to mislead people into thinking the scientist were predicting exclusively warmer climate in every location of the world instead of a global change that comes chaotic changes in locations.
It is, scientists of the world agree with this and have evidence to prove it, nameless people on the internet baselessly claiming the opposite are nothing in comparison.
ThePunisher
The past ten years 2015-2024 are the ten warmest years on record
Hint : Global. Warming. Is. Fact.
Only the very stupid would even try and dispute that fact.
https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-confirms-2024-warmest-year-record-about-155degc-above-pre-industrial-level
Blacklabel
Yet: 50 centimeters of snow fell in Niigata City, and 38 centimeters in Aikawa, Sado City, both of which are the highest ever recorded
virusrex
All inside of what is expected from the changes produced by the global warming, at this point pretending to be ignorant about this does nothing but evidence lack of actual arguments against the scientific consensus of climate change, just an inability to accept what has been proved.
Tokyo Guy
It's going to be interesting to see what happens when the Chinese take over as the world's superpower. Given the trajectory of the US right now, and the delight the current administration is taking in gutting scientific research, education, etc., it won't be long before the US doesn't even make the top 50 list of scientifically literate countries. (Last I looked it was 14th, and that was presumably before the avalanche of educational sabotage started with the new government).
By that time, Mr "hurr durr it's snowing so there's no climate change" won't be an outlier; he'll be the new normal.
wallace
Global temperatures are 1.7ºC above pre-industrial levels.
Brian Wheway
Don't forget that the sun is at a all time high for sun spots, this activity affects the weather as well,
patkim
More snow in the Hokuriku region doesn't mean global 'warming' isn't happening. Here in the Kanto region, it's much warmer than it has been in the past. I've been here for over 20 years, and I remember back then experiencing a lot more snowy days. I remember a time when it even snowed in December here in Chiba. This winter, not one snowy day yet. 20 years ago, I would routinely use my snow shovel, then year after year, it would trickle down to a few days a winter, to a couple of days, and then once a season. Mind you, I'm not complaining since shoveling snow can be backbreaking and I hate the slippery ice it becomes.
More signs of global warming: less fish being caught daily causing a rise in the price of certain fish, some crazy weather such as an occasional twister in some parts of Japan, more heavy rainfall causing some massive flooding and landslides, and the slow disappearance of spring and autumn seasons (or at least the shortening of them).
Mie Fox
The "climate sceptics" in this threat seem to be trying to point out the obvious, the "climate believers " are answering with insults. Those are not making your arguments more convincing.
As has been pointed out already, the "global warming" changed to "climate change" when the earth was not warming as expected.
I did notice too, that in the beginning, the coming catastrophy was always predicted to happen during our life time. When the deadlines passed and things on earth went on as usual, new deadlines were put forward, but now they are conveniently in the far future.....
Some people see the red flags, some prefer not to.
Jimizo
?
The walls closed in on that comment from there.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Except the planet is getting warmer. Science shows this.
TaiwanIsNotChina
The fact you think the latter disproves the former I think says it all.
Great Bird
Except this isn't what happened. You are not yourself any favors by posting clearly false information.
patkim
Why so sensitive about it? The changing of terms happens often to accommodate changing attitudes, new data, old terms becoming outdated and awkward, etc. Take the case of the use of the word 'fireman'. Nowadays, many women fight fires, so it would've been strange for them to call themselves 'firemen'. That's the great part about language, it evolves with time.
browny1
For many in the science field the term climate change has been used for decades.
It was often explained years ago that climate change is being brought about by a statistically observable rise in temperatures ie global warming.
Media in particular latched onto that latter expression - as did others - as I guess it carries a more sensational feel to wrack hte audience with.
Terms often change. In English Tsunami were always erroneously referred to as "Tidal Waves".
Scientists used the expression from ages ago to explain tide activities esp in shallow water. But somewhere along the line it was picked up to explain an earthquake induced wave.
That's why Tsunami is now generally used to avoid confusion.
That's why Climate Change is now generally used to avoid confusion.
And re Snow in Summer - it snowed on my friends property in Australia a couple of years ago in December. He lives near Canberra. The snow was widespread incl parts of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
kohakuebisu
It's looking pretty much over now, but we've had close to 150cm in four days. Officially its much less, but that's what fell at my house and all I care about. A decent chunk of it is still sitting on my lower roof, so there'll be more and heavier shoveling when the sun hits it and it comes down. At one point, we had 30cm windpacked on a 45 degree roof with no support from below, which is the most I've ever seen. It normally slides off before it hits 10cm.
(Its 20C above normal at the Arctic. The massive low that has driven this snow looks like part of the polar vortex that has meandered south, hence high temps at the pole, but don't quote me on it)
ClippetyClop
Wow, Apocalypse Pow. Where is that?
We had 150cm in 2014, on top of 80cm a few days earlier in an area not really set up to cope with such snowfalls. Best week of my life.
iknowall
Snow in Hokuriku---in February!??!?!?!?!
virusrex
Not just snow, record snowfall, that is the point of the news report, that the degree was above anything previously recorded.
Wick's pencil
They should call it weather variability, but it's just not as catchy.
virusrex
But more importantly it would be wrong, weather and climate are two very different things, pretending they are equivalent literally decades after scientists have been explaining the difference to the public makes no sense, why pretend to be completely ignorant about the topic just to push a mistaken opinion?
iknowall
Which means there was previous record snow. And before that, record snow. History repeating iself with the natural cycle of the weather.
virusrex
Broken, therefore news worthy.
No, that is not how cycles work, the same things happening is what makes a cicle, but when things happen with increasing intensitity then there is no cycle.
Not to mention that climate change is not something that happens naturally but a product of human activity, that would make your claim wrong twice.
iknowall
No one but you is arguing whether this snow was newsworthy. At the same time, you provide no reference or source that maintains record snow in Hokuriku is newsworthy, so it is just your opinion.
You misunderstood the basic sentence.
virusrex
And no one, including you have made any arguments about this not being newsworthy, even when you just claim this is a normal "weather cycle", it obviously is not.
Seeing you how are unable to point out any misunderstanding it is obvious this is not the case, just a flawed claim you made that was easily refuted with simple arguments.