In the Japanese tourism world, Sapporo, capital city of the mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, is famous for its beer, skiing and annual Sapporo Snow Festival featuring enormous ice sculptures. Hokkaido had heavy snow Friday, with Sapporo observing the heaviest snowfall in 50 years for December, and nearly 50,000 people were affected after air and railway traffic was disrupted.
Snježne padavine u glavnom gradu prefekture dostigle su 96 cm (preko 37 inča) u petak u 9 sat, što je po prvi put u decembru od 90. godine iznosilo 1966 cm.
Jak snijeg natjerao je avio kompanije da otkažu više od 260 letova koji povezuju novi aerodrom Čitose, južno od Sapora, i druge lokacije, prema operateru aerodroma. Hokkaido Railway Co. je također rekao da je otkazao više od 380 željezničkih usluga.
Jak vjetar izazvao je nestanak struje u oko 3,800 kuća u gradu Erimo i dijelu grada Samani.
