Citizens walk along a snow-covered street in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture on the 23rd amid record snowfall across Japan. Reuters Yonhap News
Heavy snow fell in Japan with a maximum snowfall of 1 meter, resulting in casualties. According to local media such as NHK and Kyodo News on the 24th, strong cold air is flowing over northern and western Japan, and a lot of snow is mainly falling in the Japanese region on the East Sea side due to the influence of winter-type air pressure arrangement . In the 24 hours to the morning of this day, 97 cm of snow fell in Oguni-machi, Yamagata Prefecture, and 81 cm in Sekikawa-mura, Niigata Prefecture, respectively. The forecast snowfall for the next 24 hours until 6 am on the 25th is 80cm in central Hokuriku, 70cm in Tohoku in the northeast, and 60cm in the Kanto region including the metropolitan area. In Monbetsu City, Hokkaido, the previous day, 13,000 households across the city experienced power outages due to heavy snow, and the Ground Self-Defense Force was dispatched to help the residents. The Japan Meteorological Agency called for caution, saying heavy snow will continue until the 25th, centered on the East Sea. The Japan Fire Agency announced that 9 people died and 48 were injured by 4:00 pm on the 23rd due to snow that had fallen since the 17th. In Yurihonjo, Akita Prefecture, there have been many cases where an elderly person died while clearing snow from a roof, such as an 80-year-old man who fell and died while working on snow removal from a roof on the 21st. In Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, a 20-year-old woman was found dead in a car buried in snow in front of her home on the 20th. The woman was presumed to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning when the vehicle’s muffler was blocked by heavy snow while warming up in the car to avoid the cold due to a power outage. Flights were canceled due to heavy snowfall, and high-speed trains, such as the Shinkansen, slowed down in some sections and were delayed while driving. yunhap news
