Snow In Japan Breaks Records; Low Temperature Benchmarks Busted Across India; "Good Chance" Another Arctic Blast Hits U.S. In February; + Undeniable Sun And Hurricane Connection

Some 800 vehicles were trapped for 19 hours on an expressway in Japan, with the army called in to dig them out.

Snow In Japan Breaks Records

Swaths of Japan are dealing with heavy, record-breaking snowfall.

Records have been toppled across the likes Gifu and Shiga prefectures, with a 6-hour period on Wednesday afternoon delivering 49 cm (19.3 inches) of snow to the town of Sekigahara in Gifu, and 40 cm (15.75 inches) to Maibara City in Shiga — the heaviest snowfall on record for those areas.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has labelled this “a powerful cold air mass”, one that has also brought record snow to the Tokai and Kinki regions.

Wintry conditions will persist through Thursday, reads the agency's latest forecast, and could even see significant snow hitting the flatlands of the Chugoku, Kinki and Tokai regions, which usually experience minimal to no snow.

In the 24 hours through Thursday evening, snow depth is expected to gain another meter (3.3 feet) in places, mirroring the previous 24 hour totals, reported Wednesday.

Japanese authorities are warning of further large-scale traffic disruptions across the country, with avalanches another concern.

Some 800 vehicles were trapped for 19 hours on an expressway in central Japan on Wednesday. The 6 km (4-mile) jam occurred after two trailers got stuck in the snow, with the army having to called in to dig them out.

These latest accumulations add to the all-time record-breaking snow that hit earlier in the month:

Sayaka Mori on X.

Low Temperature Benchmarks Busted Across India

Much of the Asian continent has been shivering of late, from Russia in the north, down through Japan, China and across to Turkey in the south.