Japan has been so hot in recent weeks thatĀ even Anime figures have melted and food has been cooked on car roofs. More than 57,000 people were taken to the hospital over the last three months as the intense rays of the sun mercilessly roasted the nation.
TheĀ Japan Meteorological AgencyĀ issued advisories covering nearly all of Japan except northernmost Hokkaido ā which has been spared the heatwave ā urging people to drink more water and take adequate measures against heatstroke.
There were 32 confirmed heat-related deaths for the week of Aug. 3 through Aug. 9. Ironically, only the southernmost and southwestern-most regions of Japan, from Okinawa Prefecture to the island of Kyushu, were spared. Osaka Prefecture led the list with 4 deaths, but even typically mild Hokkaido lost one life to the heat.
But the heatwave in Hokkaido have taken a retreat in the most dramatic fashion possible – with snowfall!
Residents of Hokkaido took to Twitter to express how pleasantly surprised and relieved they were for the snow.
ä»ę„č»ććć£ć”ćęćć£ćććē¼ććććććŖćććØęć£ć¦ćć£ć¦ćæććē¼ćć pic.twitter.com/0BjolUDO6Y
— ććć³ć®š (@bigboss0930) July 14, 2018
ę¬ę„ć8ę17ę„0ę52åé»å²³ē³å®¤ć«ć¦åå éŖć§ćāļø
ē¾åØć®ē³å®¤ę°ęø©0āćØå·ćč¾¼ćć§ććć¾ćļ½ļ¼ļ¼ pic.twitter.com/WjW3wkecR1— 大éŖ山層é²å³”é»å²³ćć¼ćć¦ć§ć¤&ćŖćććå ¬å¼ć (@rinyu_kurodake) August 16, 2018
The sight was especially surprising as Japanās autumn succeeds its summer which begins in June and ends in August, which prompted one netizen to say:
āNo way!ā
āItās snowing already!ā
āIs this snow in the same Japan?ā
āSo Hokkaido just skipped autumn and now itās winter?!ā
āSeriously? Itās still summer in Japan, but the difference is intense.ā