While a record breaking Nor’easter delivers substantial early-season snow to the United States, the island nation of Japan is also being buffeted by unprecedented December accumulations.
A brutally cold air mass dumped record snowfall just north of Tokyo on Wednesday, December 16, reports Nippon TV News 24 Japan, and the flakes are still coming down.
Worst-affected prefectures included Gunma and the mountainous region of Niigata where a record-smashing 128cm (4.2ft) and 113cm (3.7ft) of snow settled, respectively, in only 24 hours. 72-hours totals in these regions have topped 217cm (7.1ft).
People try to remove snow from the roof of a house in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Dec. 16, 2020. (Kyodo)
According to NHK WORLD News, residents living along the Sea of Japan coast also experienced “record accumulations”:
All-time snowfall records have tumbled across large portions of the country, comfortably surpassing the incredible benchmarks set back in 2010 (during the previous solar minimum, of cycle 23).
The below tweet has 2.4 million views on Twitter, and reads: “Please look at my child’s school route. (Hyogo Prefecture)”.
Around 1,100 vehicles were stranded on both sides of the Kanetsu Expressway, which connects Tokyo and Niigata, and more than 10,000 households suffered blackouts Thursday, reports kyodonews.net:
Vehicles stranded on the Kanetsu expressway in Niigata Prefecture on Dec. 17, 2020.
(Yoshinobu Wakiya)
Stranded vehicles, Japan on Dec. 17.
According to local police and highway operator East Nippon Expressway Co., a line of cars stretched up to 16.5km (10.25 miles) at one point Thursday morning:
Vehicles stranded on the Kanetsu expressway in Niigata Prefecture on Dec. 17, 2020. (Kyodo)
Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the Self-Defense Forces were being deployed to Niigata Prefecture after receiving a request for disaster relief. The troops will be tasked with distributing food, fuel and blankets as well as confirming residents’ safety, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said.
The government has set up a task force to deal with the snow, after more than 10,000 households in total have lost power in Niigata, northwest of Tokyo, and Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan, among other places, Kato told a press conference.
Speaking at an emergency Cabinet meeting in the afternoon, Suga called on the public to “continue to be sufficiently wary of traffic disruptions and damage to facilities as well as snow falling from rooftops and avalanches, and to make necessary preparations beforehand.”
The record snow has disrupted multiple road and train services since Wednesday, including stranding 300 vehicles on the Joshinetsu Expressway.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the snow will continue to fall heavily into the weekend bringing with it further disruptions.
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