Unseasonably warm weather in northern parts of Japan has caused iconic winter sights to melt away this week, causing ice deposits on trees to no longer appear so monster-like, and snow huts to be covered with blue sheets.
While Hokkaido and the northeastern Japan regions will likely be affected by cold air at the end of this month, the Meteorological Agency forecasts temperatures in early March to likely be higher than usual.
Due to warm air flowing in from the south, temperatures rose across Japan over the past several days, reaching levels typically seen in April or May. On Thursday, 27 observation points, mainly in northeastern Japan, recorded all-time high temperatures for February, including Sendai at 21.1 degrees Celsius.