Heat records shattered in northern Japan

Many heat records have been shattered in northern Japan with the start of the new week.

On Sunday, April 14, several places in Hokkaido had highs of over 25 °C (77 °F), marking the earliest occurrence of such temperatures in the island’s recorded history. Ikeda, for example, reached 26.4 °C (79.5 °F) — presenting a significant deviation of 15 °C (27 °F) above normal and surpassing even mid-summer average temperatures.

In Sapporo, the high reached 26.1 °C (79 °F) on Monday, April 15, marking the earliest occurrence of temps of ≧25 °C (77 °F) since records began in 1877, meteorologist Sayaka Mori reports.

On Tuesday, April 16, Takinoue registered 28.5 °C (83.3 °F), marking the earliest 28 °C (82.4 °F) ever measured in Hokkaido. It came 5 days earlier than the previous record set on April 21, 1998.

On the same day, cherry blossoms began blooming on the southern tip of Hokkaido — marking the 2^nd earliest occurrence on record.

Many heat records have been shattered in Northern Japan. In Sapporo, the high reached 26.1°C on Mon, marking the earliest occurrence of temps of ≧25°C since records began in 1877! Cherry blossoms began blooming on the southern tip of Hokkaido on Tue, the 2nd earliest on record. pic.twitter.com/ZeWUdLQFMH

— Sayaka Mori (@sayakasofiamori) April 16, 2024

This heatwave follows a ‘jaw-dropping July-like’ heat on March 31, when 70 places across the nation broke or tied the monthly record, according to Mori.

On this day, Tokyo reached 28.1 °C (82.6 °F), making it the hottest March day since records began in 1876. This was nearly 12 °C (21.6 °F) higher than normal and 3 °C (5.4 °F) higher than the previous March record.

Featured image: ICON model actual temperatures for 04:00 UTC on April 15, 2024. Credit: Zoom Earth, The Watchers