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Massive blizzard creates crazy snow scenes in Sapporo【Photos, videos】

Casey Baseel Feb 8, 2022
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Heaviest snows in nearly a decade completely stop all train service going into or out of Sapporo Station.

As the biggest city on Japan’s northernmost prefecture, Sapporo, Hokkaido’s prefectural capital, is pretty good at rolling with the punches of winter weather, This week, though, was an exception.

2022年2月6日(日)、札幌、雪、最高気温:−3℃、最低気温:−8℃☃️
寒い一日ですね❄️
本日のパークをお届けいたします🤗
どうぞご覧ください❤️#北海道の冬 #雪風景　 #白い恋人パーク pic.twitter.com/nLP3Nw6P1J

— 白い恋人パーク【公式】 (@ishiya_park) February 6, 2022

On Sunday, Sapporo was hit with its heaviest snowfall in eight years. For the first time since March of 2014, the city had more than 100 centimeters (39.4 inches) of accumulated snow on the ground, with the height/depth reaching 122 centimeters, as shown in the video above from Sapporo’s Shiroi Koibito Park and below at the Former Hokkaido Government Office historical facility.

札幌市（中央区）の積雪深が2014年3月以来8年振りに100cmを超えました。
積雪深は2月6日11時時点で122cmとなっており、道路の通行止めやJRの運休も発生していますので、交通障害や雪による事故に注意してください。
（動画は道庁赤れんが庁舎　2/6 10:00撮影） pic.twitter.com/pui9sRXOlv

— 北海道防災情報 (@hokkaido_bosai2) February 6, 2022

But the facility where the weather started really presenting a problem was Sapporo Station, where the flurries were so thick that visibility dropped to a white-out by the end of the block.

▼ Sapporo Station is right in the middle of downtown, with plenty of building around it that are ordinarily visible when there’s not a blizzard going on.

ホワイトアウトで札幌駅が見えないくらい雪降ってます☃️ pic.twitter.com/IdgMAZXWfZ

— Nuno Hokkaido (@TNHokkaido) February 6, 2022

If you’re wondering how they got all that snow off the tracks in time for Monday morning rush hour, the answer is they didn’t. JR Hokkaido, the Hokkaido division of Japan Railways Group, was forced to suspend service for all trains scheduled to arrive at or depart from Sapporo Station on Monday, in order to give maintenance crews time to clear the tracks enough for trains to safely start running on them again.

JR札幌駅構内は、作業員の方々で人力による除雪作業が行われています。

ドカ雪で大変な状況の中、除雪作業に携わる方々、列車の運行を支える方々には感謝しかありません。

本当にありがとうございます🙇‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/3EwBj4FvGW

— 北海道の鉄道情報局 (@hokkaido_tetudo) February 7, 2022

Trains weren’t the only form of transportation to get disrupted by the snow, though, which also made bicycles…

これ自転車のカゴ。
意味わからん。

札幌の雪　えぐみざわ pic.twitter.com/vXnFZ15jR6

— hatch(はっち) (@ichiichi1206) February 6, 2022

…and cars less than viable ways of easily getting from Point A to Point B.

今年の札幌雪まつりの会場はここだす pic.twitter.com/XFLky4IU2j

— pam (@vitamin_pam) February 6, 2022

▼ Yes, there’s a car under all that snow.

え、待って待って、
車と雪の壁の間にはまって肩まで雪に埋まったんだけど😇😇😇
札幌どーなってんの😇😇😇昨日の夕方雪かきしてきれいにしたんだよ😂
ここ札幌の外れとかじゃなくて、大通りまで徒歩15分位の札幌のど真ん中だよ😂😂
笑うしかない😇😇😇 pic.twitter.com/xnnVbDLjoi

— ノノ (@inutonono) February 6, 2022

Even for those who decided to brave the elements on foot, walking was very different in these conditions, turning a stroll down the street into a surreal adventure.

自衛隊の出動要請して欲しいですわ😰
札幌市内、災害ですよ！
これ、歩道です。更に雪は降り続いてます。 pic.twitter.com/cSzePa3adE

— Atom🙈Heart🙊Mother🙉れいわ版🐈 (@akyuimama) February 6, 2022

https://twitter.com/wam_latte/status/1490189467298107392

Heavy snowfall continued to be the natural enemy of Japan’s majestic vending machines…

▼ A bottle of hot green tea sure would be nice, if only the coin slot wasn’t snowed in.

札幌、大雪でバスもJRも運休で交通手段がなくなり徒歩帰宅。道も譲り合いながら雪道を進み、最後はフラフラ状態で駅から１時間歩いて帰宅。自販機もこんな状態だし、災害レベルの大雪もうやめて😫 pic.twitter.com/dZafqL8w5E

— かなう (@tsuba96_photo) February 6, 2022

…and the weather also decided to torment anyone with classic tastes in communications by doing its best to bury phone booths and mailboxes.

https://twitter.com/nakagawa186/status/1490298012563697667

#札幌に #大雪警報が出ています。
24時間降雪量は60センチで、#史上一番となっています。#記録的大雪です
きょう午後６時ごろまでは、活発な雪雲がかかり
さらに #積雪が増えそうです。
すでに #１メートルを超えていて、
歩道も雪に埋もれています…

#uhbお天気チーム　 #天気　 #北海道 pic.twitter.com/LxDAW1avGW

— UHBお天気チーム (@uhb_otenkiteam) February 6, 2022

As of Monday night, JR Hokkaido says that train service will not be restarting at its regularly scheduled weekday time on Tuesday, and that it will not be able to set a more defined timetable until sometimes later in the day, at the earliest.

Source: NHK News Web (1, 2)
Top image: Pakutaso
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