October weather

Every year in October and April, when the seasons are changing, the temperature fluctuates a lot and it rains often.

Tomorrow (Monday) is a holiday in Japan. It’s 「体育の日」 (“Sports Day“). So it’s currently a three-day weekend here.
Yesterday (Saturday), the weather was very cool (high temperature was 19°C) and rainy in Tokyo. Today it was raining in the morning but has stopped raining and it’s cloudy now and warmer (about 23°C).
Tomorrow is forecast to be warm (high temp: 26°C) and sunny.

Next week’s weather in Tokyo is forecast to be sunny most days but rain again next weekend…and the temperature will go up and down.
This fluctuating temperature in early Spring and Autumn is called 「三寒四温」 (“Three days cold, four days warm”) in Japanese.

 

Tokyo's weather forecast for 2010 Oct 10 - 17. (Click to enlarge)

I was looking at tenki.jp, a Japanese weather website, to get Tokyo’s weather forecast, and I noticed that it’s possible to compare Japan’s weather to any other city in the world using that website.
So I decided to see how Tokyo’s weather compares to Tampa Bay, Florida (where I grew up).
It’s still quite warm in Florida, it seems. Yesterday, for example, was 19°C in Tokyo…but in Tampa, Florida it was 29°C…very warm.

Last week's weather...Tampa, FL (the blue line) vs Tokyo, Japan (the orange line)

How is the weather where you live?

(By the way, did you notice that today’s date is: ’10-10-10?)

Coldest spring in 41 years

Yesterday was cold and rainy in Tokyo again. In the evening the temperature went down to 2°C (about 36°F).

It’s sunny and warmer today…but still cool. The high temperature today is 11°C (about 52°F).

If you’re visiting Japan for the first time right now you’re probably surprised how cold it is for late April.
But this isn’t normal. It’s unusually cold for this time of year.

It actually snowed a bit in Tokyo last night.

On TV I heard that this was the first time that it snowed this late in the year in Tokyo since 1969!

But the weather forecast for Tokyo says that everyday next week will have a high temperature of around 18°C (about 64°F) and a low of around 11°C (52°F).
So hopefully the cold spell is over.

(But it’s forecast to rain next Wednesday to Friday in Tokyo. 😦 )

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My blog averages over 1,500 hits per day.
But yesterday my blog received the most visits in a single day so far…1,986 hits.

Before yesterday, my blog’s busiest day was 2010 February 14. It received about 1,850 hits that day.

Yesterday was my site’s busiest day…but I didn’t get a single comment yesterday. 😦

I appreciate all the visits to my blog. But I especially enjoy reading visitors’ comments…I guess most bloggers feel that way.

So, by all means, leave comments often.

Thanks.

Start of Spring

Every year at the beginning of spring and again at the beginning of autumn, when the seasons are changing the weather  fluctuates from day-to-day.

Yesterday, in Tokyo it was very warm and sunny (22° Celcius (about 72°F)).

But today it’s raining and much cooler. The high temperature in Tokyo today is only 11°C (about 52°F).

And then tomorrow it’s forecast to go back up to 22°C again!

The rest of this week high temperature will range from 10 – 18°C (50-64°F)…and rain some days and it’ll sunny on the others.

Weather in April (and October) is unpredictable.

Weather forecast for 2010 April 12-19 in Tokyo, Japan

How’s the weather at this time of year in your part of the world?

三寒四温

Yesterday was warm in Tokyo. The high temperature was 20°C.

But today it’s raining and alot cooler. The high temperature is only 12°C today.
Tomorrow is forecast to only be 6°C and snow!

The rest of this week it’s forecast to have many rainy days and many sunny day…and the temperature will range from 7° – 16°C.

It’s like this every year at this time in Tokyo…the end of winter, the weather fluctuates from warm to cold a lot until Spring finally starts.
In Japanese, the expression for “the temperature going up and down everyday” is 「三寒四温」 (Sankan-shion)…which translates literally to “three cold, four warm”.

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On another note, I have begun listening to an American heavy metal band called “Disturbed“.

I guess I discovered this band late. But I don’t keep up with the music scene anymore like I did when I was a kid.
Do you like this band?

Culture Day

Today is a Japanese holiday called 「文化の日」 (Culture Day).

On this day, the Emperor Of Japan give medals in a special awards ceremony to people who have contributed to Japan.
Today nearly 700 people who be awarded various medals for things ranging from people who conducted rescue operations in a boating accident to athletes to a video-game developer.

My wife’s grandfather received a medal from the Emperor years ago for having served in the volunteer fire department for fifty years.

Also on this day, there are numerous “culture festivals” around Japan.
I have been to many of them. Last year I wrote a post about a festival I attended on Culture Day. Click here to see that post…there are many photos and videos I took at the festival.

And some places around Tokyo will begin putting up their Christmas illumination and trees.
Tokyo Tower and some branches of the Mitsukoshi Department Store will have their giant Christmas tree up from today until Xmas day.

Yesterday was a cold and rainy day. The high temperature was only 16° Celcius.
Today is forecast to be a sunny day…but a little colder than yesterday (the high temp will be 15° C).

Weather forecast for Tokyo, Japan (2009 Nov 2-9)

Typhoon again

Earlier this month there was a 台風 (typhoon) that hit Japan. It was the first one to hit Japan directly in a number of years.
(Click here to read my post about it).

Well, the weather was very cool (today’s high temperature was 17° C in Tokyo), rainy and windy all day today…because there’s another 台風 (typhoon) near Japan.

Look at this weather map showing the rain over Eastern Japan.

This typhoon isn’t hitting Japan directly like the last one did.

Here’s a map showing the typhoon’s forecasted path…it was off the coast of Tokyo at 8:00PM tonight and it’ll be past northern Japan and closer to Russia tomorrow.

But the 天気予報 (weather forecast) from tomorrow til next Monday for Tokyo is for the rain to stop early tomorrow morning and then sunny and warmer!

Tokyo's weather forecast for 2009 Oct 27 - Nov 2

今週の天気予報

The weather has been very nice these days in Tokyo.
And it’s forecast to continue like this…until Sunday.
The 天気予報 (weather forecast) says it’ll rain on Sunday, August 30th.

Weather forecast for Tokyo from August 26 - Sept 1

It says:

• Wed, Aug 26: Sunny / partly cloudy (22-28°C) (20% chance of rain (COR))
• Thur, Aug 27: Sunny / partly cloudy (23-29°C) (20% COR)
• Fri, Aug 28: Mostly sunny (23-31°C) (10% COR)
• Sat, Aug 29: Sunny / partly cloudy (25-31°C) (20% COR)
• Sun, Aug 30: Scattered rain (24-29°C) (50% COR)
• Mon, Aug 31: Cloudy (23-27°C) (40% COR)
• Tues, Sept 1: Cloudy (22-27°C) (40% COR)

So, if you’re in Tokyo and plan to do some outdoor activities this weekend, doing them on Saturday rather than Sunday, if possible, would probably be a good idea.

If you’re looking for an idea for something to do this weekend in Tokyo…there’ll be the annual Brazilian Samba Fesival in 浅草 (Asakusa, Tokyo) on Saturday.

梅雨

Today is the official first day of 梅雨 (the rainy season) in Tokyo.

It didn’t rain at all today, though.
It is forecast to rain tomorrow in Tokyo…but not the rest of the week.

Weather forecast for 2009 June 11 - 17.

The rainy season in Japan starts this time of year (mid-June) and lasts a few weeks.
北海道 (Hokkaido (Japan’s northernmost island)) doesn’t have a 梅雨 (rainy season).

Rain, rain, go away….

It was raining in Tokyo yesterday and today, and it’s forecast to rain tomorrow too.

Tokyo's weather forecast for 30 May - 5 June 2009.

I don’t like rainy weather…but it only really bothers me when I have plans that depend on good weather.
And I have such plans tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my youngest two daughters’ 運動会 (“Sports Day event“) at their 中学校 (Junior High School)…unless it rains.

If tomorrow is a rainy day, then my youngest two daughters’ 運動会 (“Sports Day event“) will be postponed to next Thursday and I won’t be able to attend. 😦

Japanese children have school 運動会 (“Sports Day events“) every year from kindergarten to high school.
In kindergarten, the events consist mainly of easy races, games and dances…as the kids get older, the events become more competitive.
It’s a fun day.

I hope the weather is nice tomorrow.

So, to wish for nice weather, I will “hang” a てるてる坊主 (“Teru-teru-bouzu“) on my site:

てるてる坊主

What should I call 「てるてる坊主」 (“Teru-teru-bouzu“) in English?
“Fair Weather Monk“? “Nice Weather Baldy“?
I guess a literal translation is strange. I’d call him “Fair Weather Charm” in English.

A real てるてる坊主 (“Fair Weather Charm“) is made of tissue or cotton and hung outside the home by Japanese people to hope for nice weather when an event is coming up that depends on nice weather.

And just like there’s a rhyme about rainy weather in English that goes: “Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day…“.
In Japan, children sing:

てるてる坊主、てる坊主、明日天気にしておくれ…

Which means: “Fair weather charm, fair weather charm, please make tomorrow’s weather nice!”

It’s gonna snow?

This winter it hasn’t snowed at all in Tokyo yet.

It usually snows once or twice every winter. Not too much…usually just enough to turn the ground white, and it melts away in a day or two.
(I seem to recall that it used to snowed more heavily and more frequently in Tokyo when I first got here in 1990. Is my memory off…or has global warming changed Tokyo’s winters?)

Anyways…it’s forecast to snow in Tokyo for two days next week. On Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4.

There’s an 80% probability of rain for today, then cloudy tomorrow, Sunday and Monday are supposed to be mostly sunny…then the snow on Tuesday and Wednesday…followed by a cloudy day next Thursday.

Do you like snow?
Personally, I don’t care for it much. Actually I like Spring and Summer much more than Winter!

Tokyo's weather forecast for February 27 - March 5, 2009.