For the longest time on record, Japan’s Mount Fuji has been without snow.
As of Halloween, the country’s tallest mountain was still without snow. This marks the longest period on record, The Weather Channel reported.
The volcano’s snowcap begins forming on Oct. 2 on average, The Guardian said. Last year, snow was first detected there on Oct. 5.
Japan saw warmer than average temperatures in September and October, The Weather Channel said.
The country had its joint hottest summer on record this year with temperatures between June and August being 1.76C (3.1F) higher than an average, BBC News reported.
“In September, temperatures continued to be warmer than expected as the sub-tropical jet stream’s more northerly position allowed a warmer southerly flow of air over Japan,” BBC News said. “October has seen the heat ease slightly, but it has still been a warmer than average month.”
Yutaka Katsuta, a forecaster at Kofu Local Meteorological Office, said comparative data became available in 1894, and this year beats the previous record of Oct. 26 – which had been recorded twice, in 1955 and 2016, according to The Guardian.
He said climate change might have a degree of impact on the delay in the snowcap’s formation.
Fewer climbers tackled Mount Fuji this year, according to The Guardian, after Japanese authorities introduced an entry fee and a daily cap on numbers to fight overtourism.
Mount Fuji last erupted about 300 years ago, and it was has been immortalized in countless artworks, including Hokusai’s “Great Wave,” The Guardian said.
