Heavy snow in Tokyo area impacts morning commute

Heavy snow fell across Tokyo and the wider Kanto region on Monday, continuing until early Tuesday in some areas and impacting transportation networks during the morning commute.

On Monday evening, the Meteorological Agency had issued a heavy snow warning for Tokyo’s 23 wards and most of the Kanto-Koshin region, calling for caution over transportation disruptions, frozen roads and avalanches until Tuesday morning. The warnings were later downgraded to advisories.

Heavy snow fell in and near the mountainous areas in the Kanto-Koshin, Gifu and Shizuoka prefectures in the Tokai region and Fukushima Prefecture in the Tohoku region.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways canceled 67 flights and 37 flights, respectively, mainly at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, suspended some express trains on the Chuo Line, while shinkansen trains were delayed on the Tokaido Shinkansen.

As of early Tuesday morning, some train lines in the Kanto region remain suspended, including sections of the Yokohama Line and the Chuo Line.

Many sections of the Metropolitan Expressway, Tomei Expressway, Shin-Tomei Expressway, Chuo Expressway, Kan-Etsu Expressway and Tohoku Expressway were closed to traffic.

On Tokyo’s Yurikamome automated transit line, two trains were stranded between Shinbashi and Takeshiba stations around 9 p.m. Monday, forcing about 550 passengers to walk along the tracks to Shiodome Station between the two stations.

Some blackouts were reported in the service area of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings. Shortly past midnight, about 13,000 households in Tokyo and five nearby prefectures were being affected by electricity outages, according to Tepco Power Grid Inc.

Automakers suspended operations of some plants fully or partially. Among them were Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor.

In eastern Japan, snowfall of 10 centimeters was recorded in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, as of 11 p.m. Monday, while 8 cm fell in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward and Saitama. Other areas, including Yokohama and Chiba, saw 4 cm.

Over the 24 hours to 6 p.m. Tuesday, snowfall was forecast to reach 40 cm in mountainous areas in northern Kanto and 30 cm in Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture, Tama in Tokyo, Hakone in Kanagawa, the Koshin central region, Fukushima and Gifu.

Snowfall of 15 centimeters was forecast in flat areas in Kanto.