A traffic jam is seen in front of JR Tottori Station in Tottori, on Feb. 13, 2017.
© MainichiA traffic jam is seen in front of JR Tottori Station in Tottori, on Feb. 13, 2017.
Disruptions from heavy weekend snow continued in Tottori Prefecture and other areas along the Sea of Japan on Feb. 13, a day after a path was cleared for some 250 vehicles that had been stranded on an expressway and national route.

The Tottori Prefectural Board of Education cancelled classes at 131 public elementary, junior high and high schools.

It continued to snow on and off in many areas of western Japan along the Sea of Japan coast on Feb. 13 as a result of a wintry atmospheric pattern that has brought the coldest air of the season to the region.

As of 9 a.m. on Feb. 13, the Hyogo Prefecture town of Kami had recorded 194 centimeters of snow, followed by 134 centimeters in the Yogocho district of Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, 124 centimeters in Ono, Fukui Prefecture, 75 centimeters in the city of Tottori and 36 centimeters in the Kyoto Prefecture city of Maizuru, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).


The JMA forecasts that it will likely snow in areas along the Sea of Japan coast in the Hokuriku, Chugoku and Kinki regions on Feb. 14.

Fatal accidents have been reported in areas hit by heavy snow.

A 62-year-old man was found dead in a light vehicle at a residence in Miyazu, Kyoto Prefecture, at around 1:45 p.m. on Feb. 11. Police concluded that he died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Local police said snow had accumulated to a height of over 1 meter behind the car. The man was apparently taking a break in the vehicle after having cleared snow from the premises of the residence from the morning of Feb. 11. Investigators suspect that snow that had fallen from the roof blocked the muffler of the vehicle, causing exhaust fumes to flow back inside the car.

Separately, a woman in her 80s was found lying in an irrigation canal in the city of Tottori at around 11:50 a.m. on Feb. 12, bleeding from her head. She was subsequently pronounced dead.