Late summer heat hits Sapporo, mercury tops 31 C

SAPPORO, Japan - A late summer heat wave hits Sapporo on Sept. 21, with the temperature soaring to 31.1 C in late morning. According to the Sapporo weather observatory, this is the first time since weather observations began in 1879 that the temperature topped 30 C this late in the summer. The previous record was logged 86 years ago, on Sept. 18, 1921, when the mercury in Sapporo touched 30.1 C. The photo shows a mother and her two children having lunch at Odori Park in central Sapporo.