Earthquake 5: Japan EQ + Snow

A very bad combination of people having no house and car and then heavy snow starts falling. That's what thousands of survivors in the Northern Japan earthquake + tsunami last week endured early this week.

Here's the global sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly as of 14 March 2011. Note the sea ice (white) and colder than normal (blue) sea water to the north-east of Japan. It is indeed a bad period, last week and this week weatherwise, in that part of Japan.

Click on the picture to see a larger image. Data source http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/data/sst/anomaly/anomnight.current.gif

Below are two among many news reports on snow + post-earthquake Japan. All pictures here except weather images, are from Mail Online.

Snow piles more misery on Japan's devastated northeast

By Kim Kyung Hoon and Chris Meyers
updated 3/16/2011 2:15:46 PM ET

SENDAI, Japan — - Heavy snow blanketed Japan's devastated northeast on Wednesday, hindering rescue workers and adding to the woes of the few, mainly elderly, residents who remained in the area worst hit by last week's massive earthquake and tsunami...

"Snow has just come down in a blanket. Visibility is just 40 meters," said Patrick Fuller of the International Red Cross Federation from what remained of Otsuchi, a fishing hamlet...

After Japan's quake and tsunami, freezing weather threatens relief efforts

Jonathan Watts in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 March 2011 18.32 GMT

Freezing winds, hail storms and thick snow are the latest threats to 430,000 beleaguered survivors of northern Japan's week-long cascade of disasters. After a massive earthquake, devastating tsunami and nuclear crisis, many people made homeless are now facing icy weather, with temperatures forecast to plunge to –5C (23F).

The soldiers here are stepping on snow-mud-debris surface. A bad combination to look for survivors, if any.

Survivors of EQ + tsunami are huddled around flaming firewood, suddenly a plentiful raw material.

And how's the projected weather in the next few days, will the people there expect some warm and sunny days?

Unfortunately, the answer is NO. Japan and the rest of NE Asia will be in deep freeze. Projections of temperature anomaly (deviation from average) from 16 to 24 March 2011.

Data from http://wxmaps.org/pix/temp5.html

I hope that morons will stay out and refrain from saying that "global warming caused the earthquake and snow in Japan."