Cold weather and lots of snow

Up until the end of 2011 the winter weather in Japan had been very mild, but starting in January it became quite cold and heavy snows began.

In our part of Japan we don't get any snow except for maybe a small amount once a year which usually melts within a day. However, in northern Japan and areas along the western shore have been receiving record setting amounts of snow. In many places the snow is tw0 to three times the average snowfall with snow piling up as high as buildings.

At the Fukushima nuclear reactor site, pipes in reactor number 4 froze and leaked radioactive water from the spent fuel rod pool before it was discovered. According to the report, none of the water leaked outside of the building...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120202a3.html