Snow in Tokyo!!!

Indeed... it has been a very strange thing to see so much snowfall in Tokyo this weekend. Given all the snow that China has had, and that the U.S. midwest (and Idaho!!!) has had, I'm just waiting for the global climate change enthusiasts to start warning against a global cooling period (like they did in the 70s), and we better pull out all the stops to warm the planet up!!!

I had been down in Osaka and Nagoya this weekend so missed the Tokyo snow down there. However, the picture I've included here is one that I took from the Tokyo shinkansen platform as I got back in town tonight. It was getting dark, so this was the only picture I could get (I had to switch trains in Tokyo to get to my apartment, and it was dark when I arrived). Most of the snow had been melted by rain, but doesn't it look cold?! (it is!!!)

From a report in the U.S.A. Today:

Rare Tokyo Snow Strands 10,000 at Narita Airport
A rare snowfall in Tokyo left nearly 10,000 passengers stranded overnight at Narita airport after about 50 international flights were cancelled, the airport authority said Sunday.

The season's first snowfall in the greater Tokyo region measured 3.5 inches in the center of the capital on Saturday, the heaviest accumulation in eight years, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

At Narita airport, some 40 miles from downtown Tokyo, 51 international flights were cancelled as airport workers were unable to remove snow from runways quickly enough.

More than 90 other flights were delayed for a night, leaving passengers stuck in the terminal, an airport public relations official said.

"A total of 9,690 passengers were stranded overnight at the two terminals. We provided blankets and extended the time for air-conditioning and lighting to accommodate them at lobbies," the official said.

"We also opened special paid waiting lounges for free of charge."

At Tokyo's domestic Haneda airport, some 100 flights were cancelled on Saturday, disrupting the travel plans of some 14,000 passengers.

At least 125 people have suffered broken bones and other minor injuries in Tokyo after slipping in the rare snow by midday Sunday, fire officials said, while 200 others were reported hurt in nearby prefectures.

It usually snows lightly only a few times a year in the Tokyo region, located on the warmer Pacific side of Japan's main island.

Coastal regions have experienced Japan's deadliest winter in more than two decades, with at least 102 deaths recorded by Tuesday, with many of the victims crushed by snow or falling from buildings while clearing snow from roofs.

Most of the dead have been elderly people. The death toll is the highest since 1983-1984, when 131 people died in snow-related incidents.