This summer, Japan experienced abnormal weather conditions, such as nationwide heat waves, tornadoes and sudden cloudbursts. Recently these weather conditions have occurred frequently, exposing people to bodily risks and causing damage to property.
It is important for both the public and private sectors to prepare for sudden changes in weather like these as well as for major earthquakes and tsunamis.
An experts' panel at the Meteorological Agency studied the weather conditions this summer by collecting various data and concluded that Japan in fact experienced "abnormal weather." In August, record hot weather of 41 degrees Celsius hit Shimanto City, Kochi Prefecture, in Shikoku.