Weather officials in Japan warn of more heavy snow this weekend, mainly in mountainous areas of the Hokuriku and Kanto-Koshin regions.
A strong cold air mass brought record snowfall this week to mountainous areas in Niigata and neighboring Gunma prefectures. Blizzards left more than 2,000 vehicles stranded for many hours on an expressway.
Another blast of heavy snow is expected for coastal areas of the country along the Sea of Japan starting around Friday evening.
Due to a strong cold air mass over the Japanese archipelago, coupled with the season's typical atmospheric air pattern, heavy snow continued falling in mountainous areas from northern through western Japan.
The season's most powerful cold air mass over Japan is bringing heavy snow to areas on the Sea of Japan coast from Hokkaido in the north and to the Chugoku region in the southwest. Weather officials are calling for caution against avalanches, icy roads, and traffic disruptions.
Snowfall in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning was 128 centimeters in Minakami Town in Gunma Prefecture, and 113 centimeters in Yuzawa Town in Niigata Prefecture -- both the heaviest 24-hour snowfalls on record.
TOKYO — Nissan on Thursday cut its forecast for an annual operating loss by 28%, albeit to a still-whopping $3.2 billion, helped by restructuring efforts and better-than-expected sales.
In a reversal from the aggressive expansion pursued by ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn, Nissan is reducing production and its vehicle line-up by a fifth, and slashing costs by 300 billion yen in three years to improve profits.
Weather officials are warning of possible flooding and torrential rain in wide areas of Japan through Wednesday. Record rainfall is expected in the Tokai region in central Japan.
The Meteorological Agency said a rain front and a low-pressure system are creating unstable atmospheric conditions and causing localized downpours across wide areas from western to eastern Japan.
Japanese weather officials are warning of possible landslides and flooding in wide areas from Kyushu to the Kanto region as torrential rain is forecast through Sunday morning.
In one hour through 5 a.m., 40 millimeters of rain fell on Makurazaki City in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu.
Japanese weather officials are warning of possible landslides and flooding in low-lying areas of southern Kyushu as torrential rain is forecast through Sunday.
In one hour through 8 p.m., 35.5 millimeters of rain fell on Ibusuki City in Kagoshima Prefecture. Miyazaki City had 27.5 millimeters.
Weather officials in Japan are warning of possible mudslides as heavy rain is expected across much of the country on Friday.
A rain front and a low-pressure system are bringing localized downpours to the Kyushu and Chugoku regions in western Japan.
Japan's weather officials say higher-than-normal average temperatures are expected across the country from July through September.
The Meteorological Agency said on Wednesday that two high-pressure systems -- one from the Pacific Ocean and the other from the Tibetan Plateau -- will overlap near Japan in the next three months.
Japanese weather officials are forecasting stormy weather for the northern Japan on Friday, and advised caution against gusty winds and high waves.
Japan Meteorological Agency officials say two developing low pressure systems are approaching northern Japan. They are expected to merge over the Sea of Okhotsk and gather force Friday night.