Scorching Heat Hits Wide Areas Of Japan, Expected To Continue Tuesday
A heat wave hit wide areas of Japan on Monday, while weather officials announced that the rainy season apparently ended unusually early in some regions.
Meteorological Agency officials said the rainy season has ended in the Kanto-Koshin region, which includes Tokyo, as well as in the Tokai and southern Kyushu regions.
The announcement for these regions came 18 to 22 days earlier than average. If officially confirmed, it will be the earliest end of the rainy season in Kanto-Koshin and the second earliest in the other two regions since record-keeping began in 1951.
Temperatures soared to near 40 degrees Celsius in the Kanto-Koshin region on the day.
Sano City in Tochigi Prefecture saw the mercury rise to 39.8 degrees Celsius, followed by Tatebayashi City in Gunma Prefecture with 39.1 degrees.
Tokyo's Hachioji City recorded 36.9 degrees, and central Tokyo had 35.7 degrees. This is the first time that temperatures rose above 35 degrees in central Tokyo for three straight days in June.
Weather officials say temperatures will remain high on Tuesday, with daytime highs expected to reach 37 degrees in Kumagaya City near Tokyo and Toyooka City in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. They also say the mercury will not fall during the night, and are urging people to take measures to prevent heatstroke.
Meanwhile, warm and damp air flowing along the rim of a Pacific-high pressure system is causing rain clouds to settle above northern Japan.
Extremely heavy rain of some 70 millimeters an hour is believed to have fallen between 4 and 5 p.m. near Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture.
The risk of mudslides has heightened in the prefectures of Yamagata, Fukushima and Miyagi, prompting officials to issue an alert.
Heavy rain will continue in northern Japan and the Hokuriku region on the Sea of Japan coast.
About 100 millimeters of rain is expected during the 24 hours until Tuesday evening in Hokkaido, the Tohoku region and Niigata Prefecture.