|
Serving
Students at
Santa Ana
College and
Santiago
Canyon College
JAPAN
Climate
|
WEATHER
FORECAST
Climate
The general
characteristics of the Japanese climate are determined by the winter and
summer monsoons. During the winter the intense cold of the Asian
interior creates a vast high-pressure area over eastern Siberia.
The presence of a low- pressure area over the warmer western Pacific accentuates
the flow of dry, cold air eastward. In its passage over the Sea of
Japan the Asian air masses absorb much water vapour which is deposited
as rain or snow once contact is made with the central mountains of Honshu.
During the summer the pressure gradient is reversed, and moist, cool Pacific
air moves from the south and east across the Japanese island toward the
Asian low-pressure area. The summer monsoon brings the early summer
rains needed by the farmers at rice-planning time. The monsoon pattern
results in colder winters and wetter, hotter summers than one would expect
at Japan’s latitude, even when the effects of insularity are taken into
consideration. Less beneficial than the summer monsoon are the typhoons,
violent rotary storms of tropical origin, that strike western Japan in
late summer and early fall. Countless variations in the general climatic
pattern are produced by local relief.
Temperature
The cold
Japanese winters are accentuated by penetrating northwest winds.
From December through February the temperature is below freezing in many
localities, especially in northern Honshu and Hokkaido. At Asahigawa,
in central western Hokkaido, the January mean temperature is 14 (all figures
are in Fahrenheit ), the mean maximum, 3 . Temperatures rise gradually
to the south, with little difference between the Pacific and Sea of Japan
coasts. During January, the coldest month, Tokyo has a mean temperature
of 37 . Osaka, to the southwest, with a winter climate typical of
the Inland sea region, is two degrees warmer. Southern Kyushu is
the warmest part of Japan during the winter; the January mean temperature
there is 45. Japan’s long latitudinal stretch has little bearing
on summer air temperatures, although marked differences occur with elevation.
Everywhere summers on the plains mean high temperatures and high relative
humidity. Relief comes only during the cool nights. Hokkaido
is cooler than areas to the south. Some examples of mean temperatures
for August, the hottest month, for scattered parts of Japan are : Kagoshima
,79 ; Osaka,81 ; Tokyo,77 ; and Sapporo, 69. In northern Japan, spring
and autumn, transitional periods between the two extreme seasons, are or
shorter duration than in western Japan. The striking cherry
blossoms of April and colorful foliage displays of autumn are outstanding
seasonal features. The frost-free season, an important determinant
of number in the extreme southwest.
Precipitation
No part
of Japan is deficient in its supply of atmospheric water, which is received
in the form of rain or snow. Maximum precipitation generally occurs
during the early summer and minimum precipitation during winter in keeping
with the monsoon pattern. The major exception is the sea or Japan
coast, where winter precipitation, mostly in the form of snow, exceeds
that of summer. The summer rainy period, known as the baiu, or ‘plum
rain,’ because it commences when the plums are ripening, continues for
much of June and June and July. Torrential rains accompany late summer
and early fall typhoons. Rainfall patterns on a national scale are
irregular because of relief modification, but most of Japan receives precipitation
in excess of 40 in. annually. Western Hokkaido, eastern Honshu
and the Inland sea region receive 40-60 in. Heaviest precipitation
is in the high elevations of central Honshu, along the Sea of Japan coast,
and in the highlands bordering the Pacific coast west of the Kanto plain.
In these localities 100-120 inches annually is not uncommon.
Snow falls
on most parts of Japan in winter, but the amount and duration varies locally.
Snow blankets Hokkaido, northern Honshu, the Sea of Japan coast and the
mountainous interior from November to April. Winter weather in the
areas of heavy snowfall is marked by successive overcast or cloudy days.
On the other hand, brighter weather occurs in such favored areas as the
Inland sea region, where surrounding mountain ranges block the entry of
moisture-bearing winter winds. Despite clearer weather in some places,
however, winter is never the preferred season in Japan. The Japanese
house and primitive heating devices are designed for comfortable spring,
summer and fall living.
.
Links
to More Information
Japan
Travel Updates
Climate in Japan
..
|
