Global warming seen behind Japan's heavy snow in February

Researchers found global warming helped bring extraordinarily heavy snowfall to the Tokachi region of Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, and wide areas along the Sea of Japan coast in early February.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the city of Obihiro in the region had 120 centimeters of snow in the 12 hours through 9am on Feb. 4, setting a fresh 12-hour record in the country.

The heavy snow was caused by a low-pressure system that came from a high sea temperature area off the Sanriku coast in the Tohoku northeastern region.

The researchers from the Meteorological Research Institute, the University of Tokyo, and Kyoto University said Tuesday a computer simulation showed that the Tokachi region's cumulative snowfall in 24 hours between Feb. 3 and Feb. 4 was around 5 % more than the amount calculated excluding global warming's impact, such as rising temperatures due to greenhouse gas emissions.

During the peak hours, between 11 pm on Feb. 3 and 5 am the following day, snow accumulation topped the assumed unaffected level by some 10 %, they noted.

The joint study team also found that in the Sea of Japan, coast areas of the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions that each had at least 10 millimeters of rain between Feb. 3 and Feb. 9, the average snowfall in the seven-day period exceeded the unaffected level by about 6 %.

$Global warming seen behind Japan\'s heavy snow in February$