Gunma Pref. logs highest temperature of near 39 C in Japan+

TOKYO, July 21 Kyodo -
Tatebayashi in Gunma Prefecture saw a temperature of 38.9 C on Wednesday
afternoon, the day's highest in Japan, due to a high-pressure system in the
Pacific Ocean, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
In Tokyo, the Otemachi business district became the first location in the
nation's capital to see the mercury exceed the 35 C mark this year at 36.2 C
shortly after 2 p.m.
In the city of Moka in Tochigi Prefecture, an 83-year-old woman collapsed on a
field apparently due to heat exhaustion and was soon pronounced dead, while a
79-year-old man was found dead in a field in the city of Kumagaya, Saitama
Prefecture, according to local fire departments.
By 3 p.m., 35 people in Tokyo had been taken to hospitals due to heat
exhaustion, with one of them -- an 89-year-old woman -- becoming unconscious,
according to the Tokyo Fire Department.
The high-pressure system spread over a wide area of Japan, except for Hokkaido
and Okinawa Prefecture. Temperatures climbed to 30 C or higher in all of
Japan's 47 prefectures, the agency said, adding 676 observation stations
nationwide saw temperature above 30 C.
Record-high figures were observed in four locations in Gunma, Tochigi and
Shimane prefectures.
The heat was particularly intense in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, at 38.5 C, the
Saitama Prefecture town of Yorii at 38.2 C, the city of Koga, Ibaraki
Prefecture, at 37.6 C and Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, at 37.6 C.
The agency expects heat of more than 30 C for many parts of Japan also on
Thursday as the weather is forecast to clear up in Okinawa.
Such intensive heat may last until Saturday but some rain is expected
afterwards, as a cold air system from the north is expected to approach the
Japanese archipelago, according to the agency.
==Kyodo
2010-07-21 23:02:44


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