There was a hint of spring in the air Thursday as the mercury rose to levels usually noted between early April and early May in Kyushu.
The warm spell was brought on by a growing low pressure system and an accompanying southerly wind, mainly in the western part of the archipelago, as it moved east over the Sea of Japan, the Meteorological Agency said Thursday.
Thursday's lows were 12.8 degrees, 10 degrees higher than usual, in Fukuoka, and 10 degrees, 6.4 degrees higher than average, in Kagoshima.
In the Kanto region and the Koshinetsu region, comprising Yamanashi, Nagano and Niigata prefectures, a rapid rise in temperatures was expected to bring rain, and the agency issued an avalanche warning in mountain areas.
Bad weather has disrupted the schedules of some events at the Nagano Winter Games, but the weather is expected to improve there today, according to the agency. The low pressure caused the first southerly wind of the season, a harbinger of spring, in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures.