Weather

With an eye on the Tokyo Games, Japanese researchers are developing a new system to accurately forecast torrential downpours — known in Japan as "guerrilla rainstorms" — 30 minutes before they strike. Scientists have created a high-tech radar capable of producing a three-dimensional map of a r...

The annual Sapporo Snow Festival, one of the nation's largest winter events, attracted a record-high 2.74 million visitors thanks to good weather and an influx of Chinese vacationers during the Lunar New Year period, organizers said Tuesday. The event, held since 1950, was staged from late las...

A cold snap hit Tokyo and its surrounding areas Saturday, causing cancellations of more than 100 domestic flights to and from the capital. The Meteorological Agency said up to 5 cm of snow was expected to fall in central Tokyo by 6 a.m. Sunday due to a cold air mass above a wide swath of the c...

A cold wave caused by a mass of air at record-low temperatures gripped Hokkaido on Friday, causing traffic disruption across the island. As temperatures plunged below minus 20 degrees Celsius in some parts of the region the Meteorological Agency also predicted snow on Saturday for eastern Japa...

Rain and some snow may fall on Tokyo Thursday night due to cold winds blowing in from the Pacific Ocean, the Meteorological Agency said Thursday, adding that commuters should be wary of traffic and icy roads. Between Thursday and Friday, reduced atmospheric pressure and low temperature winds t...

Heavy snowfall is expected across Japan over the weekend as the weather agency issued a warning Friday for many regions on the Sea of Japan coast as well as some mountainous areas on the Pacific side. The Meteorological Agency said that with strong cold air masses approaching the archipelago, eve...

Although some parts of Japan have yet to see this year's first snowfall, experts say they already know when spring will come. Residents of Kochi Prefecture in the Shikoku region will be the first to see cherry blossoms of the Somei-Yoshino tree this year, as early as March 18, according to a f...

Travelers in Hokkaido remained stranded Monday after flight cancellations due to heavy snow from Saturday onwards delayed around 2,000, leaving many stranded overnight at a key airport just as the country's New Year holidays wrapped up. On Monday, check-in counters at New Chitose Airport near ...

Victims of last July's torrential rain that hit parts of western Japan were remembered Sunday, six months after the first special heavy rain warning during the disaster was issued. Bereaved relatives and residents laid flowers on an altar set up within the premises of a residential complex in ...

The agriculture ministry plans to submit to the Diet a new bill for stricter management of reservoirs for farming, after heavy rain that hit western Japan last summer destroyed some ponds and caused damage, it was learned Saturday. The ministry intends to submit the legislation to this year's ...