Cold Sweeps Japan After Historic Winter Snow; Record May Snow Slams Goose Bay; Concordia At -106.1F; Antarctica Had Far Less Sea Ice Just 1,000 Years Ago; + Glacier Retreat Panic Ignores History

Glaciers were not beloved symbols of planetary health back then — they were a literal threat to survival.

Cold Sweeps Japan After Historic Winter Snow

Japan is being hit with an unusually sharp mid-spring cold snap.

Minimum temperatures plunged across the country on May 11, with Amami and Okinawa notably affected. Tmins across the archipelago dropped to levels typically seen in mid-March, setting new records for early May.

Naha, for example, dropped to 17.2C (63F)—its coldest reading during the first-half-of-May since the 16.3C (61.3F) on May 14, 2011.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) recorded dozens of stations threatening May Tmin records, especially across northern and inland regions.

[JMA]

This cold follows a record-breaking winter for snowfall.