Heavy Snow Hits Sea of Japan Coastal Regions

Tokyo, Jan. 10 (Jiji Press)--Heavy snow chiefly hit Sea of Japan coastal areas in the northern, central and western regions on Friday and was forecast to continue to fall in some areas until Saturday morning.

Expecting the current cold air mass to cover the Japanese archipelago for a while, the Japan Meteorological Agency has called for vigilance against blizzards and high waves.

On Friday, snow forced East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, to halt Yamagata Shinkansen bullet train operations between Fukushima Station in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima and Shinjo Station in another northeastern prefecture of Yamagata until 11 a.m., affecting 12 inbound and outbound trains and some 1,600 people.

As of 8 a.m., snow accumulation reached 3.74 meters at the agency’s Sukayu observation point in the Hakkoda mountain range in Aomori Prefecture, also in northeastern Japan, 1.97 meters in the Yamagata village of Okura and 1.95 meters in the city of Uonuma in the central prefecture of Niigata.

The agency forecast that the northeastern, central and western regions will have up to 60 centimeters of snow in the 24 hours through 6 a.m. Saturday.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]