First “Snow” in Japan (Hokkaido)

So last night as we were walking the dogs the clouds started to roll over Hokkaido. Looking up with the moonlight illuminating the sky you could see little chunks of water falling from the sky. It started off with what seemed to be “thick” water then it quickly became hail. While it was not large pieces it was the first official sign that winter is rapidly approaching us.

Waking up we found a very very light dusting of ice all over the yard, in the potted plants and covering our car. While it’s not the white powdery fluffy snow we are used to, it’s an indicator no less.

As of now the forecast still states that the snow wont’ happen until the end of November but based off of how it feels and last nights slight show of force I feel like it might happen a little sooner then expected.

While i’m very excited for the aspect of snow, it does add much more to our plate every day.

When it snows in our town, we need to start shoveling around 5-7 AM to ensure that we have access to our car, roadway and doors. If we don’t it normally gets too high to keep up, or takes about triple the time to clear it.

Another strange event that corresponds with the weather is our parents visit this year. They are coming in the HEAT of winter. But they are also traveling through Japan so the temperature will change significantly in certain areas. They’ve been talking to us daily about what to pack and it’s hard to determine what is necessary and what is not.

And of course my other question to myself is what does this mean for the winter season. Will snow starting mean a longer winter or does that mean it’ll end shorter than expected? Who knows….

As a lot of things in life I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.