It has been a very mild winter season in Tokyo. But days before Sitsubun and the first day of Spring, winter decided to remind us that it can snow in Tokyo! On the afternoon of January 28, 2021 snow flurries appeared in the Japanese capital.

Surprised, I went outside to see sufficient white stuff laying on the ground. There was no real accumulation and the surprise “storm” was over in a few hours and little evidence of snow remained.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) the event was due to a low-pressure system and a strong winter pressure pattern that caused extremely strong winds across Japan. Heavy snow mainly on the Sea of Japan side of the country and northern areas was predicted.

With the strong winds, Tokyo experienced a rare snow event while Hokkaido in Japan’s north received more than 50 cm of snow in blizzard conditions.

The day after our snow event the afternoon temperature in Tokyo reached 65F/18C.

The experience did prompt me to look at my awesome collection winter photos from Maine.