Hokkaido sweltersーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
Hokkaido is sweltering under a heat wave. Officials warned temperatures could top 40 degrees Celsius Wednesday in some parts of the island. This is shockingly hot for the northern region. It is famous for its pleasant mild summers with little humidity. In July, for instance, temperatures usually hover between 14 and 24° C. The mercury topped 38° C in the town of Bioro and 37 in Kitami. Heat stroke alerts have been issued across Hokkaido. In the town of Shahi, a woman in her 90s died from suspected heat stroke. Her house has no air conditioning. Air conditioners are not as common in Hokkaido residences compared to other parts of Japan. This can be partly attributed to the short moderate summers where temperatures tend to drop at night. The heat wave is not only impacting people but also local businesses. The case for sashimi is empty, right? We have stock, but due to the heat, it’s kept in the freezer, and customers are few and far between. The heat is particularly extreme this year. Fish also arrive at port damaged. Normally, there would be more customers, but they’re not coming because it’s too hot. It’s been the most difficult time for business. Dairy farms are also struggling. On deer Kenta keeps around 200 cows in Kitami. He says they are eating less feed than usual. Some cows just lie down with their size heaving. They are breathing really fast with their mouths wide open. Their tongues are hanging out as well. This dairy farm normally produces 3,400 kg of milk per day, but this month the production is sometimes down 200 kg per day. I’m worried and confused. I want to say just give us a break. We’re in Hokkaido. Due to the severe heat, 47 schools temporarily closed on Wednesday. Our Tokuroske has been seeing some impacts of this heat wave firsthand. We sent him to Kitami and he joins us now from there. So Yoske, earlier we saw you our news line talking about kids skipping a waiting pool just because it’s just so hot. So where else can people go to escape this heat? For some, it’s this room here at the concert hall. Outside, it’s 30° C, but inside it’s around 27. Let’s check it out. The city has set up this cooling shelter. It’s for anyone who needs it, especially those without air conditioners. Over here there are spots to sit down and relax. And over here some bottles of water with some added soap. There are also pockets of soap. The Japanese government dropped the of area. More than 10 people used this shelter today. That number has been increasing since it reopened on Monday. Kitami opened these cooling shelters when there’s a heat stroke around. People are used to handling minus 20° C in the winter. But the recent intense heat is not common. That’s why this facility can be especially important, including this one. There are 13 C cooling shelters in the city. officials are encouraging people to use them if necessary. Those are some key places to keep in mind these days then NHK was Tokyos reporting from Kitami Hokkaido. Thank you. So what’s behind all of this sizzling heat in Hokkaido? Let’s bring in our meologist Jonathan O. So Jonathan, one place in Hokkaido saw a record of 38.2 degrees. What’s happening? Yeah. I mean, you’re saying like, “Wait a minute, this is Hokkaido. I mean, we’re not supposed to see temperatures this high.” And you’re correct because we’re seeing a couple of major factors that’s leading to temperatures that are like this, upper 30s, including Hokkaido. The first one really involves the geography of Hokkaido. We have a couple of big mountain chains in place. Let’s think about it this way. When you pick up a packet of air and bring it up across the mountains, it gets cool. But as it goes over the mountains and then back down toward the ground, it heats up. And when you have two mountain chains all moving in that same general direction, we’re talking about a real heat up, especially in the northeastern portions of Hokkaido. On top of that, we have a couple of big highpress systems that are just kind of coming over and just sitting on top of it. Two, one is the Pacific High located over the Pacific Ocean. that’s bringing the southerntherly flow. Then we have the Tibetan high that’s located back toward the west, but it’s also really dominating the pattern across the country. And so it looks like that we’re talking about a period of continued hot weather across Japan. And yeah, we’re even talking about the heat being a part of the story up in Hokkaido as we go forward in time. Well, I myself lived in Hokkaido for four years, so I know for certain this is quite unusual, right? So my question, our question is that when are we going to see some relief for that northern part of Japan? Well, here’s the thing. It looks like that the pattern may be in place to where at least this type of high temperature continuing into Thursday, maybe into Friday before we get a little bit of a back off here. So maybe a little cooling trend, but I do want to point out that we have been dealing with increased anomalies of higher than normal temperatures over the past several years. And if you look at it in general trend over the past hundred years. So, you know, in the near future may see a little bit of relief, but we might be talking about the story more and more as we continue on forward.
Japan’s northern island Hokkaido, once a haven in summer for its mild temperatures, is currently sweltering under a heatwave. #japan #heatstroke #weather #climate #hokkaido
More stories on Japan: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/tags/2/
Please subscribe HERE: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSPEjw8F2nQDtmUKPFNF7_A?sub_confirmation=1