Various parts of the nation registered their lowest temperatures for the season Tuesday as the archipelago was enveloped by a typical winter atmospheric pressure pattern.Tuesday was also designated on the lunar calendar as the coldest day of the year, known as Taikan, which literally translates as "big coldness."Heavy snow fell on coastal areas along the Sea of Japan and the mercury dropped to minus 0.7 in Tokyo, minus 1.2 in Toyama and minus 1.8 in Kyoto, according to the Meteorological Agency. It fell to minus 0.9 in Hiroshima, minus 2.6 in Kochi and minus 1.2 in Kumamoto. These places thus experienced the coldest temperatures of the season. From 9 a.m. Monday to 9 a.m. Tuesday, 76 cm of snow fell in Okura, Yamagata Prefecture; 71 cm in Yunotani, Niigata Prefecture; and 68 cm in Izumi, Fukui Prefecture.The agency said snow will continue falling in northern Japan and the Hokuriku region, although clear weather is forecast for Pacific coastal areas today. The agency forecast snowfall of between 40 cm and 60 cm in mountainous areas in the Tohoku and Hokuriki regions and 20 cm to 40 cm in Sea of Japan coastal areas of northern and western Japan, and in the Hokuriku region by this morning.
