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Biggest Tokyo snowfall in 45 years

Biggest Tokyo snowfall in 45 years

Old Feb 10, 2014, 2:24 am
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What I don't get is the shoveling mentality. Why not just leave the stuff and it will melt in the next 12 hours anyway.
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 3:27 am
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Originally Posted by 5khours
What I don't get is the shoveling mentality. Why not just leave the stuff and it will melt in the next 12 hours anyway.
It's been two and a half days, and it's still hard to pass through the roads that haven't been shoveled around here.
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 4:22 am
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Originally Posted by 5khours
What I don't get is the shoveling mentality. Why not just leave the stuff and it will melt in the next 12 hours anyway.
Because it will refreeze overnight and inevitably cause an accident...
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 5:04 am
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Originally Posted by 5khours
What I don't get is the shoveling mentality. Why not just leave the stuff and it will melt in the next 12 hours anyway.
Have you lived in snow country? It became obvious immediately because of logistic of everyday chores we need to do, simply wait snow to melt will not work. Also, in snow country it is every year situation that when snow in November then that snow may not melt away till March next year!
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 6:04 am
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Originally Posted by AlwaysAisle
Have you lived in snow country?
Yes. I grew up shoveling snow mornings for many years. I have also spent time in Tokamachi during the winter. However....

This thread is not about snow country. It's about Tokyo.

Because it will refreeze overnight and inevitably cause an accident...
Not when the temperature is well above freezing.

It's been two and a half days, and it's still hard to pass through the roads that haven't been shoveled around here.
The only snow left is where the shovelers have piled it up so it won't melt.

Last edited by 5khours; Feb 10, 2014 at 6:31 am
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 7:04 am
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Originally Posted by 5khours
Not when the temperature is well above freezing.
Things are much worse when it's not freezing. You don't slip on ice, you slip on the water that forms on top of ice.
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 7:32 am
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
Things are much worse when it's not freezing. You don't slip on ice, you slip on the water that forms on top of ice.
Yeah but Hailstorm knowing your cautious nature, you probably have a Zamboni in your apartment that you break out for travel in snowy weather.
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 11:31 am
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
Things are much worse when it's not freezing. You don't slip on ice, you slip on the water that forms on top of ice.
Indeed. And it's not heights that you should fear, but the ground at the bottom of them.
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 5:43 pm
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Originally Posted by 5khours
Yes. I grew up shoveling snow mornings for many years. I have also spent time in Tokamachi during the winter. However....

This thread is not about snow country. It's about Tokyo.
I think you meant Tookamachi, 十日町, in Niigata. Maybe even the city website spell it as tokamachi but it is とうかまち as in to followed by o not とかまち.

The snow we just had in Tokyo was not every winter snow in Tokyo. Snowfall in Tokyo exceeded 20 cm (7.9 inches). Tokyo have not had this much snow fall in more than 20 years. I think expecting residents in Tokyo to just wait till snow to melt and not to shovel snow away after this much snow is little unreasonable. Coming from my experience as a resident of New York state and Massachusetts. And you should know that just because temperature is above freezing does not mean snow melts immidietely. I am PhD chemist so I can explain why...
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 5:54 pm
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Originally Posted by AlwaysAisle
I think you meant Tookamachi, 十日町, in Niigata. Maybe even the city website spell it as tokamachi but it is とうかまち as in to followed by o not とかまち.
He didn't spell it using Kana, he used Roman letters. There is no one set standard for Romanizing, so arguing for the best way to represent a city name in an alphabet system that it wasn't intended for is like spitting into the wind.
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 6:35 pm
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Originally Posted by AlwaysAisle
I think you meant Tookamachi, 十日町, in Niigata. Maybe even the city website spell it as tokamachi but it is とうかまち as in to followed by o not とかまち.

The snow we just had in Tokyo was not every winter snow in Tokyo. Snowfall in Tokyo exceeded 20 cm (7.9 inches). Tokyo have not had this much snow fall in more than 20 years. I think expecting residents in Tokyo to just wait till snow to melt and not to shovel snow away after this much snow is little unreasonable. Coming from my experience as a resident of New York state and Massachusetts. And you should know that just because temperature is above freezing does not mean snow melts immidietely. I am PhD chemist so I can explain why...
Yes 十日町 (and it's almost always romanized as Tokamachi). One time, when I was there we got 297cm of snow in a week, which I think is the highest ever recorded weekly snowfall for any place with a population over 10,000 people.

It doesn't matter how much it snows. Tokyoites go out and shovel even when it's only 2cm. My post was really a comment on culture and psychology not the physical sciences, but since we're on the subject (and if you're bored) maybe you could post an explanation of how much time is required for snow to melt. The amount of heat required is pretty straightforward, but the heat transfer mechanism is little trickier so don't forget to include latitude, longitude, date and time, cloud cover, reflective index and temperature of nearby structures, water content, temperature, density and depth of the snow, temperature and heat capacity of the ground or pavement, etc. One simple easy to understand formula would be nice.

Oh... and BTW... it's Toukyou not Tokyo.
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 6:45 pm
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Originally Posted by 5khours
Oh... and BTW... it's Toukyou not Tokyo.
You fool! It's clearly Tōkyō!
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 8:36 pm
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Originally Posted by hailstorm
You fool! It's clearly Tōkyō!
Correct. Unless you're doing a precise transliteration "oo" and "ou" aren't normally used except for data processing, "oo" for おお in passports and "oo" and "ou" in words and place names (e.g. Hiroo, Toyoura) where the sounds are in separate words (i.e. characters). Legally for Tokyo I think "o" "ō" or "" are all recognized but I'm not really sure. Glad to see you're as sharp as ever.
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Old Feb 10, 2014, 11:05 pm
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And the real trouble makers drop the Y ... like Tokio Marine.
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Old Feb 11, 2014, 12:50 am
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Originally Posted by jib71
And the real trouble makers drop the Y ... like Tokio Marine.
Or if they are German...

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