Cherry blossoms appear in western Japan

Weather officials in Japan say a warm wind from the south helped raise temperatures across the country on Saturday. Record high temperatures for March were observed in many places.

In the western cities of Hiroshima, Nara and Shimonoseki, cherry blossoms have started to bloom about 10 days earlier than average.

The blossoms in Hiroshima are the second earliest and those in Shimonoseki the third earliest since records began to be kept in 1953.

Meteorological officials say the earlier blossoming is probably due to higher than average temperatures between December and February.

The earliest blossoming was reported in the southwestern city of Kochi on March 10th.