The cause of the record snowfall in Japan

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), heavy snow covered the entire Kanto region, Japan, on January 14, due to the usual weather pattern in the early spring and 'less likely'. happens this season.

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This is a heavy snowfall that has not been seen for many years in the Kanto region, especially in Tokyo.

The low pressure zone grows rapidly when it goes east right next to the southern edge of the Japanese archipelago. This is a common weather phenomenon in March every year but rarely occurs in mid-January.

A JMA official confirmed, 'There is little chance of this unprecedented thick snowfall.' In the central area of ​​Tokyo, snowfall of 8cm and Yokohama is up to 13cm, causing the city's transportation network and the surrounding area to stagnate.

Unusual snowfall in Japan

A woman living in Shibuya district, Tokyo, 34, said: 'In the past 17 years, this is the first time that heavy snow has fallen. Usually in Tokyo there is a year of snowfall, there is a year without snow but if there is snow, the number is not that much. ' Especially, in the past three years, from 2011 to 2013, three years in a row have snow at the beginning of the year.

The meteorological agency analyzed that the depressions zone passing through the southern part of the Japanese archipelago could cause heavy snowfall because the cold air from the north suffers from moisture and warm air from the south goes up.

When the center of the low pressure range approached the island of Hachijojima, like what happened on January 14, Kanto was sunk in snow.

If low pressure goes to the north of the island, there will be only rain because the air is too warm, making it difficult for snow to form. If it goes south of the island, Kanto is only cloudy without rain or snow.

The low pressure area often goes north of Japan in the winter. However, it was the unusual movement of the low pressure area that caused Tokyo to witness this heavy snowfall.

JMA officials said: 'When the moderate West winds move mainly in the south, the center of the low pressure zone also runs along the south of Japan'.

The temperature near the ground also affects whether there is snow. According to JMA, the depressive zone going to the southern sea does not always cause such heavy snowfall.