It's way early, and sort of the first day of summer in Japan (1st June). So why such an early "coming snow season" thread?
Earlier in the week, a heatwave ended, after about a week of 30C+ temperatures around Tokyo.
It was unusual because it was still May, still spring. But last Sunday, 513 of JMA's 926 weather stations recorded temperatures > 30C degrees, and 53 recorded > 35C.
Strangely, the hottest place was Hokkaido, where May mean max temperatures are around 17C degrees.
In the town of Saroma, on Hokkaido's far NE coast, the temperature got up to 39.5C degrees. It was the hottest temperature ever recorded in Hokkaido, and the hottest May temperature ever recorded anywhere in Japan, in May.
I'm still not sure why this particular location was so hot. There was a WSW wind blowing off the hot Asian mainland, but there was 500km of the Sea of Japan, to moderate those hot winds. There was high pressure the preceding days, but there seemingly should not be enough heat so early in the year.
The temperatures have dropped back since then. Saroma's max yesterday was 24.6C
Earlier in the week, a heatwave ended, after about a week of 30C+ temperatures around Tokyo.
It was unusual because it was still May, still spring. But last Sunday, 513 of JMA's 926 weather stations recorded temperatures > 30C degrees, and 53 recorded > 35C.
Strangely, the hottest place was Hokkaido, where May mean max temperatures are around 17C degrees.
In the town of Saroma, on Hokkaido's far NE coast, the temperature got up to 39.5C degrees. It was the hottest temperature ever recorded in Hokkaido, and the hottest May temperature ever recorded anywhere in Japan, in May.
I'm still not sure why this particular location was so hot. There was a WSW wind blowing off the hot Asian mainland, but there was 500km of the Sea of Japan, to moderate those hot winds. There was high pressure the preceding days, but there seemingly should not be enough heat so early in the year.
The temperatures have dropped back since then. Saroma's max yesterday was 24.6C