Wakkanai

Climate

Climate	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Daily highs °C	−3	−3	1	7	12	16	20	22	19	13	6	0
Nightly lows °C	−8	−8	−4	2	6	10	14	17	14	8	1	−4
Precipitation mm	98	68	54	55	71	65	93	112	126	130	128	123
Average temperatures of Wakkanai

The average summer temperature is around 20°C 68°F, but it can get cold at night, so you may need to bring more than a summer jacket. It's temperate enough that you don't see many air-conditioning units around town, and the ones that are there are rarely put into use. In the depth of winter the thermometer frequently drops below zero, but the −20 °C -4°F you see inland or across the Okhotsk bay in Russia are extreme occurrences here, as the air is heated by sea currents. The very strong winds can make it feel like Siberian winters, though.

History

The city was established in the 17th century as a frontier trading post to the aboriginal Ainu people who originally inhabited much of Hokkaido. It prospered through trade and as a strategic outpost in the far flung northern reaches of the empire, in the century that followed. The modern city was established in 1900, and when Japan recaptured parts of Sakhalin Island after the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, it became the main transit point to the Karafuto prefecture established there with regular steam-liner operations to Otomari today Korsakov, a status that only increased when the Sōya railway was finally extended here in 1926. With the loss of Sakhalin in the aftermath of WWII the town's fortunes faded, and it reverted to being little more than a military post during the Cold War with American troops stationed here for much of the period. While the population is still dwindling, the end of the Cold War might change Wakkanai's fortunes once more: a regular ferry route to Sakhalin was reopened in the 1990s, and trade and ties with Russia are slowly but steadily increasing.