Snow falls in Hokkaido as cold spring continues across Japan

TOKYO — Unseasonable low temperatures have been keeping Japan’s spring cool, resulting in snowfall in the country’s northeast this week.

Temperatures in Hokkaido have been around 5 degrees lower than average this year, in a continuing cold streak that has seen chilly winds and even snowstorms arrive unusually late into the spring, Japan’s Meteorological Agency announced Friday. Sapporo received snow in May for the first time in 21 years, the agency said.

Due to a dip in atmospheric pressure on Friday, the agency forecast rain and even more snow in Hokkaido. The agency also said that temperatures across Japan this week have been on average 2-8 degrees lower than normal for early May.

- Japan Today