Japan’s hottest summer in 113 years
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, this was Japan’s hottest summer in the past 113 years.
From June to August, temperatures rose by 1.64 degrees Celsius higher than average, and the highest since 1898 when the weather agency started recording data.
Central Tokyo has seen 48 “tropical nights” with the lowest temperature of 25°C (77°F) at night. The average temperature in Tokyo was 27.1°C (80.78°F) which is 2.3 degrees higher than average. These calculations do not include the heat island effect in urban areas and other phenomena.
According to the forecasts, the country can expect daytime high temperatures to stay around 35°C (95°F) at least until September 14.
Heatstroke has so far sent more than 40,000 people to hospitals and claimed hundreds of lives, mostly senior citizens.
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Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201009020435.html
Of course – in most countries this would be a completely crazy idea… however, in Japan where I routinely saw 5800 yen rockmelons in the supermarkets, I guess it sort of makes sense to keep them fresh. I guess….