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January 26, 2016

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Chaos across Asia as temperatures plunge

Source: AFP | January 26, 2016, Tuesday | Print Edition

SNOW, sleet and icy winds across Asia caused deaths, flight cancelations and chaos over the weekend as areas used to basking in balmier climates struggled with record-low temperatures.

Weather-related deaths were reported in Japan and Taiwan, with hundreds of flights canceled across the region, tens of thousands of holidaymakers stranded in South Korea, and freezing conditions in sub-tropical Hong Kong causing mayhem on its tallest peak.

While the cold snap is by no means on the scale of the weather now affecting the snow-bound eastern United States, such temperatures are a novelty for many residents.

In Bangkok, a city that rarely sees the thermometer dip below 20-25 degrees Celsius, temperatures dropped to around 16 degrees on Sunday night.

It left the city’s residents, whose normal attire generally includes flip-flops and shorts, digging through their closets for jackets and jumpers.

Thip Panyangam, a 51-year-old motorcycle taxi driver in Bangkok, welcomed the unusual drop in temperature.

“The weather is superb. It’s been many years since I’ve experienced this cold. I feel happy, refreshed and relaxed. When it gets too hot, I get a headache,” he said.

In Japan five people died and more than 100 were injured on Sunday as record-breaking heavy snowfall and low temperatures hit the country’s western and central regions and rare snow fell in subtropical areas.

The small subtropical island of Amami saw snow for the first time since 1901, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

A total of 24 weather stations on China’s mainland recorded all-time low temperatures between Friday and Sunday.

At Eergu’Na in Inner Mongolia, the temperature on Saturday hit a record low of minus 46.8 degrees.

The southern city of Guangzhou saw rare sleet, the first in 60 years, in its downtown area, the local meteorological station said on Sunday.

Taipei registered a low of 4 degrees over the weekend, the coldest in 44 years, with the media reporting 90 deaths due to the cold weather, and rare snowfall drawing crowds to the Yangmingshan park.

In Hong Kong, primary schools and kindergartens were closed yesterday after temperatures plunged to a 60-year low.

A 100 kilometer ultra-marathon race was abandoned as competitors crossing the city’s tallest peak, Tai Mo Shan, slipped on icy slopes buffeted by freezing winds.

The peak became the scene of “carnage,” as one race official described it, as hundreds of curious “frost-chasing” citizens became stranded, with dozens stricken with hypothermia and hapless firemen called in to rescue them filmed slipping and sliding on the icy roads.

Also yesterday, close to 90,000 people were stranded on the South Korean resort island of Jeju after the biggest snowfall in three decades shut the airport for a third day.

In Vietnam, temperatures in Hanoi dropped to 6 degrees at night over the weekend, the coldest weather the country has experienced for two decades.

Mountainous areas in the country’s north, including the tourist town of Sapa, experienced light snow, and some primary schools were closed in the capital, officials said.

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