News Japan sees record-breaking snowfalls and 30 snow-related fatalities

Two weeks of heavy snowfall have battered large parts of Japan, leaving at least 30 people dead and more than 200 injured, according to government figures, while local authorities caution that the final toll may yet climb. Severe winter storms are hardly unusual in the country, particularly along the Sea of Japan coast and across the northern prefectures. This winter, the snowfall in several regions has been unusually heavy. Whole neighbourhoods were buried under deep snow, and in some cases, residents were effectively trapped inside their homes. In other areas, the buildup led to deadly traffic accidents and left travellers stranded for hours, sometimes longer, as trains and roads came to a halt.


Data released on Tuesday by the interior ministry put the number of fatalities recorded since 20 January at 30. The worst conditions began toward the end of last month, when blizzards and persistent snowfall disrupted public transport networks and stranded thousands of passengers at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido. In response, the government deployed Self-Defence Forces personnel to the hardest-hit prefectures, primarily to clear snow from the roofs of homes belonging to older residents, where there was an immediate risk of collapse.

In Niigata Prefecture in central Japan, 12 people have died, and dozens of others were injured because of the snow, officials said. One man in his 60s died after his home collapsed under the weight of accumulated snow, according to NHK, Japan's public broadcaster. In the northern city of Aomori, often called the world's snowiest city, the accumulated snowfall on Sunday reached 183 centimetres, or about 72 inches, the highest since 1986. [...] Four people have died so far in the prefecture, among them a 91-year-old woman who was found buried in snow with a shovel nearby, NHK reported. Videos circulating online have shown cars, trees and homes engulfed in huge mounds of snow.

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Aomori City has been hit by its fourth-highest annual snowfall on record, with snow removal and hauling carried out around the clock in central districts as accumulation again approached 180 centimetres on the morning of 3 February, forcing residents to spend consecutive days clearing snow. The Disaster Relief Act has been applied to 21 municipalities across the prefecture, and SDF personnel began removing snow from residential rooftops on 2 February amid growing concerns that buildings could collapse under the weight. A resident said that without the SDF's assistance, the house would likely have collapsed within a day or two. In Aomori Prefecture, three people have died in snow-removal-related accidents, with more than 100 others injured, according to local authorities.

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It's been a few days, but we had 65cm on one overnight, then a little more over the following day or two. Not the worst compared to past years, but a lot. We may have sort of lucked out, squeaking thru between heavier snow that hit only a little north or south of us.
Since, we've now had three days of very warm wx--above 10c, and the high today was 12. So the piles have been shrinking, and i wore shoes when out today and not my high rubber boots.
Rain tomorrow, and then the forecast says snow, tho not heavy.

We haven't had a single flake of snow here in Kanto yet.

thomas said:

We haven't had a single flake of snow here in Kanto yet.

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We had a tiny dusting of snow in Tokyo in the evening of Jan 1 or Jan 2.