Rainy season in western Japan arrives earlier than ever

The rainy season this year is beginning for some western and central parts of the Japanese archipelago weeks earlier than usual, recording the earliest starting date in some regions since statistics became available in 1951. According to preliminary figures released by the Meteorological Agency, the Kinki region — which includes Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto — and other surrounding prefectures likely entered the rainy season May 16, 25 days earlier than last year. The arrival of the rainy season 21 days earlier than average is the earliest it has begun in Kinki since the agency began compiling statistics 70 years ago. The tentative start date, if unchanged, would break the May 22 record set in 1956 and 2011. On May 16, the Tokai region, including Aichi, may have entered the rainy season at its second earliest date ever and 21 days sooner than usual, the weather agency’s figures showed. In Tokai, the earliest arrival of the rainy season was in 1963, when it began on May 4. Behind the untimely start of the rainy season is an unusual trajectory of westerlies that is affecting anticyclones over the Pacific Ocean, according to media reports. The premature start of the rainy season is unfolding nationwide. Past statistics suggest that an earlier start to the rainy season doesn’t necessarily suggest an early end. (The Japan Times) This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.