Japan's weather agency on Thursday urged residents from the country's north-to-west regions facing the Sea of Japan to be vigilant of further heavy snow after many vehicles were left stranded.
The warning from the Japan Meteorological Agency comes just a day after nearly 800 vehicles became stuck on the Meishin Expressway in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, leaving at least two boys, aged 1 and 5, and a man in his 50s feeling unwell, according to a local fire department.
Two trailers became stuck in the snow, blocking vehicles in a 6.6-kilometer section of a lane at one point, while vehicles were also immobilized on a 5.5-km stretch of the opposing lane.
The disruption, which began around 9 a.m. Wednesday, had ended by around 4 a.m. Thursday, with the express operator and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force clearing snow in the area.
In the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Friday, the agency forecasts as much as 60 centimeters of snowfall in the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan, as well as 50 cm in the country's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and the Kanto-Koshin and Hokuriku regions in eastern and central Japan, respectively. The western Kinki and Chugoku regions are projected to see 40 cm.
In the subsequent 24-hour period, Hokkaido and Tohoku could see 20-40 cm of snowfall, the agency said.
