Japan to see average weather this summer, reiterates El Nino warning
Date: 26-Feb-14
Country: JAPAN
Author: Yuka Obayashi and James Topham
Japan is likely to see average weather this summer, the official forecaster said on Tuesday, reducing the risk of a potential spike in demand for electricity from customers cranking up their air conditioning.
Japan is currently nuclear free for just the third time in more than four decades, following the reactor meltdowns and radiation leaks at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi facility, requiring the country to rely heavily on fossil fuel-fired power plants.
Eastern Japan, including the most densely populated Tokyo area, will have a 40 percent chance of average temperatures between June and August, the Japan Meteorological Agency said in its summer forecast.
The weather bureau also reiterated a forecast made earlier this month that there is a 50 percent chance that an El Nino weather pattern could emerge this summer.
El Nino - a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific - affects wind patterns and can trigger both floods and drought in different parts of the globe, hitting production of key foods such as rice, wheat and sugar.
Japan's forecast echoes warnings by officials in both Australia and the United States of increased chances El Nino will strike this year.
The table below gives the temperature forecast for the coming months in terms of the percentage below average, average or above average, with Okinawa, Amami referring to those islands in southwestern Japan.
North Japan Below Ave. Above
June-Aug 40 40 20
Mar-May 30 40 30
March 40 30 30
April 30 40 30
May 30 40 30
East Japan Below Ave. Above
June-Aug 30 40 30
Mar-May 30 40 30
March 40 30 30
April 30 40 30
May 30 40 30
West Japan Below Ave. Above
June-Aug 20 40 40
Mar-May 30 40 30
March 30 40 30
April 30 40 30
May 30 40 30
Okinawa, Amami Below Ave. Above
June-Aug 20 40 40
Mar-May 40 40 20
March 40 40 20
April 40 40 20
May 30 40 30
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi and James Topham; Editing by Ron Popeski and Joseph Radford)
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