Japan Sees Warmer and Dryer Summer in 2011

Image by koharuteisyoku. Some Rights Reserved.

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced on September 1, 2011, that the nation's average temperature in summer 2011 (from June to August) was higher than usual, with large fluctuations. While there were periods with extremely high temperatures all over Japan, there also were periods of cooler temperatures than in average years because of the declining power of Pacific anticyclones.

Precipitation was higher than normal in western Japan and lower on the Pacific coast of northern Japan and in the Okinawa and Amami region. Sunshine duration was below average in western Japan. A large part of eastern Japan saw an abnormally high number of extremely hot days when the highest temperatures exceeded 35 degrees Celsius, while this number was lower than normal in many other regions. Meanwhile, there were many areas nationally where the number of days when the highest temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius and the number of days when the lowest temperature of the day was at elast 25 degrees Celsius were higher than normal.

The rainy season began earlier than usual in regions other than Tohoku and Hokuriku, and ended much earlier than usual in regions other than Amami, southern Kyushu, northern Kyushu, and Shikoku. In July, Niigata and Fukushima regions were ravaged by torrential rains. Various other regions were hit by heavy rains because of typhoons, water fronts, and humid air currents. As a result, precipitation was higher than normal in western Japan and average or less elsewhere.

Posted: 2011/12/12 06:00:15 AM