Kumagaya is one of the largest cities in northern Saitama Prefecture. About two-thirds of the city area is located between the
Tone River and the
Arakawa River alluvial fan, approximately 60 km from central Tokyo and 45 km from the prefectural capital at
Saitama City. The highest point in the city is Mikajiri Kannon, which is located on the Kushibiki plateau at an altitude of 83.3 meters. The city is known for its abundant and high quality ground water.
Surrounding municipalities Gunma Prefecture •
Chiyoda •
Oizumi •
Ōta Saitama Prefecture •
Fukaya •
Gyōda •
Higashimatsuyama •
Kōnosu •
Namegawa •
Ranzan •
Yoshimi Climate Kumagaya has a
humid subtropical climate (
Köppen climate classification:
Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kumagaya is 14.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1532 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.8 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.4 °C. Kumagaya is known for being one of the hottest areas in summer in Japan. This is caused by very hot winds from Tokyo and the
Chichibu basin in the west of the prefecture. In central Tokyo, the summer
monsoon enhanced by
sea breeze is heated by the
urban heat island. Also, from the Chichibu Mountains, the
Föhn blows. The two winds converge above the city at about 2 p.m. On August 16, 2007, the city recorded air temperature of , breaking the 74-year record for the
highest temperature recorded in Japan. is a catchphrase of the city. On July 23, 2018, the national record was broken again with a temperature of , surpassing the previous record of recorded in
Kōchi Prefecture in August 2013. There was a large
hailstorm on June 29, 1917, at about 5 p.m. The
hailstones had a diameter of 29.5 centimetres and weighed 3.4 kilograms. The
Japan Meteorological Agency maintains a local meteorological observatory in Kumagaya. ==Demographics==