Heavy snow Friday in Japan brought traffic to a halt in some areas along the Sea of Japan, dpa reported. A cold air mass caused record snowfalls and record-low temperatures for December in northern Japan, the Meteorological Agency said. Niigata City was hit by 28 centimeters of snow, the heaviest for December in 24 years. The snowfall played havoc with the region"s transportation system. Twenty-four domestic flights and 62 train services were canceled while an international flight was delayed for eight hours. In northern Japan, local observatories measured 93 centimeters of snow in Tsuruoka and 86 centimeters in Akita on Thursday, both breaking accumulation records in December, the Kyodo News agency reported. In Memuro in central Hokkaido, Japan"s northern island, temperatures dropped to minus 25 degrees, the lowest reading ever recorded in December. Snow was forecast to continue for the weekend in a wide area along the Sea of Japan and northern Japan. --SPA
