Migration
Storm dumps snow on Yokota
Stars and Stripes
March 6, 2005
Members of the 374th Security Forces Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan, assist Master Sgt Terry Cross, right, from the 374th Mission Support Squadron, and his daughter Shannon Cross, left, after her car got stuck during a snow storm. (Val Gempis / U.S. Air Force)
Members of the 374th Security Forces Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan, assist Master Sgt Terry Cross, right, from the 374th Mission Support Squadron, and his daughter Shannon Cross, left, after her car got stuck during a snow storm. (Val Gempis / U.S. Air Force)
Five-year-old Arian Garvin, left, and her 7-year-old brother, Elijah, build a snowman Friday at Yokota Air Base, Japan. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — March is, in fact, coming in like a lion for some bases on Japan’s Kanto Plain.
A storm dumped snow on the region early Friday morning, with Yokota Air Base receiving the brunt of the accumulation, among U.S. military installations, at 6.5 inches.
Staff Sgt. Shaun Autrey, a weather forecaster with Yokota’s 20th Operational Weather Squadron, said snow began falling around 4 a.m. Friday and continued until around 1 p.m.
“For this one, I don’t believe it was a record-breaker, but the heaviest snowfall of the year, definitely,” he said.
Base officials canceled school, but base employees were expected to report to work, according to a 374th Airlift Wing spokeswoman.
Myrna Puzon, Yokota Arts and Crafts Center program manager, said business was down Friday, but “it was catch-up time for us.” Workers there took advantage of the lull, cleaning the store and sprucing up the merchandise.
Puzon left home on the east side of base around 8:45 a.m. and said she took it slow on her drive into work. She said the deep snow made it difficult to see where the road ended and the sidewalk began.
“I’m just hoping I’m on the street, not going on the sidewalk,” she said.
Naval Air Facility Atsugi officials, reported a few inches of snow Friday but said schools and base facilities remained open. Yokosuka Naval Base officials reported a light snow and said nothing was canceled or damaged.
The Yokota weather squadron issued a heavy-snow warning for Camp Zama, but weather forecasters and Stars and Stripes were unable to reach base officials there Friday for a report on accumulation. A Zama High School official did say schools were in session. Camp Fuji officials were unavailable for comment.
Light snow was in the Kanto Plain forecast for Saturday night and Sunday, Autrey said, but “nothing nearly as significant as today.”
The Japan Meteorological Agency observed less than an inch of snow in Tokyo and Yokohama as of 2:15 p.m. Friday. The agency expected no more snow over the weekend, but cautioned there was a danger of icy roads as water on pavement could freeze as temperatures dropped overnight.
Puzon abandoned plans to go to Tokyo on Saturday, opting instead to borrow some videos and stay inside.
“Hearing it’s going to snow (Friday night),” she said, “I’m not going to go outside tomorrow.”