News Hundreds of cars buried in snow on Niigata highway

[thomas]

On the night from Monday to Tuesday, hundreds of vehicles were stranded on highways. With drivers stuck in the deep snow on two national highways, Niigata Prefecture requested a disaster-relief dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to help resolve the traffic congestion in Kashiwazaki and other cities.

At least 800 cars and trucks were stuck in Kashiwazaki around 1 a.m. Tuesday. The number was reduced to around 300 vehicles three hours later as work to remove snow continued throughout the night, according to the authorities. The Japan Meteorological Agency on Tuesday warned of another snowstorm and potential traffic disruptions in the Sea of Japan coastal regions from Thursday to Sunday as a cold spell grips the Japanese archipelago. Kumi Miyazawa, a 52-year-old elementary school teacher, said she spent a sleepless night stuck in a traffic jam that began Monday afternoon. Despite being there for more than 15 hours, her car had only moved 50 meters by Tuesday morning. Drivers helped each other, she said, with some trying to shovel out a car that had gotten stuck in the snow. A nearby company office distributed drinks and let people use its bathroom, she said.

Niigata Pref. asks for Japan defense forces' help as highways buried in snow - The Mainichi

NIIGATA -- Niigata Prefecture has asked for the Ground Self-Defense Force to be deployed as the region along the Sea of Japan is blanketed in snow, tr

mainichi.jp

Every year the same old story. I empathise with those who had to spend a night in a freezing car, but shouldn't they have known better?

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I think I see Mike's truck about 6 back in the row. I can hear him yelling from here.

 

[Petaris]

It always amazes me how people just completely forget how to drive in snow when it first comes for the year. I will say that the number of small and low clearance cars in Japan doesn't help matters though. Also, not planning for a big snow and how to avoid driving on roads that have not been cleared yet.

We are supposed to get a huge blizzard here this afternoon. I looked at the forcast and was, well, underwhelmed. 1-3 inches expected. Where I grew up in Northern Wisconsin they don't even clear the roads if there isn't more than 6 inches. lol

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Hoping I don't lose power here from the big storm. Here on the coast of Maine we are due around 3 inches of rain and up to 70MPH wind gusts and as soon as the rains pulls out , temps well below freezing to freeze all the wet areas , UGH.

 

[mdchachi]

Similar pattern coming through here. It's been raining for hours and it's just now switching over to freezing cold and snow.
I expect to wake up to a winter wonderland. Then it's supposed to continue snowing pretty much all day.

 

[johnnyG]

A blizzard here, easily a good 40cm so far, and it's supposed to continue thru tomorrow night. 12-14m/s wind--yuk!

I've been out to shovel four times today, just to keep from having to do it all at once. I cleared some around the cars, and how they'll move to get into the street, but we haven't tried to drive, to clean them off enough to get out. We're okay now, but will need some groceries, so that'll be a goal for tomorrow. The main roads aren't bad, but the trick/challenge is getting down the short bit of road (20m?) from our place to where they are clear. Wife's car is 4wd, so we'll be taking hers.

I'd fully expect some more stories in the news tonight or tomorrow, similar to the one above, vehicles stuck on one road or another.

 

[thomas]

I'd fully expect some more stories in the news tonight or tomorrow, similar to the one above, vehicles stuck on one road or another.

It looks like you'll have a White Christmas.

Record snowfall in Shikoku, while Kanazawa gets special alert | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[johnnyG]

So y'all know, it didn't materialize. Yesterday was horrible, but it warmed up a little so today's precipitation was rain. Which is good since it help to get the packed snow broken up. To the supermarket, the problem was not the road, but parking there.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Heavy rain here got rid of all our snow. Green Christmas for us.

 

[mdchachi]

We didn't get much snow but enough to cover the ground and we'll definitely have a white Christmas because the temperatures fell from above freezing into the teens. Right now it's 11F/-11C.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

A great shot of the power of the storm here in Maine. This is a famous Maine lighthouse ordered built by George Washington in Cape Elizabeth. It sits about 15 feet above the ocean high tide on a rocky cliff. The lighthouse keepers building is 3 stories high. That wave took out a bunch of the windows in a building that sits about 20 feet from the cliff edge.