Heavy snowfall continued to affect transportation across northern Japan and the Sea of Japan coast on Monday, leaving thousands of travelers stranded.
The latest storm, driven by successive cold air masses, dumped record amounts of snow in the city of Sapporo, with snow depths reaching 111 centimeters in the Hokkaido capital by Sunday afternoon — exceeding 1 meter for the first time in four years.
Hokkaido Railway Co. said train services in the Sapporo area were expected to resume on Monday afternoon once tracks have been cleared of snow. At New Chitose Airport, about 7,000 passengers were stranded overnight after rail links to Sapporo were halted, according to public broadcaster NHK.
AloJapan.com