As the agency recalled AFPon average, the first snow on Mount Fuji appears on October 2 every year. In 2023, this date was moved to October 5, and currently, for the first time in 130 years, no rainfall has been recorded. This means breaking the record set in 1894, when snow fell on Fuji only on October 26.
Japan's Mount Fuji still without snow. “It's quite shocking”
On October 31, the Japan Meteorological Association said that “temporary rainfall is likely to occur near Mount Fuji on November 6,” which will then “arrive in cold air and turn rain into snow.” According to experts, the first snowfall could occur on the morning of November 7.
– It's quite shocking that there is no snow at this time of year – one of the tourists commented to the agency on Lake Kawaguchi, the place where Mount Fuji can be observed. He stated that he visits Japan every year in autumn and the peak was always covered with snow at that time. The snow-covered mountain peak is so characteristic that it is difficult to find one in popular photo banks that would show Fuji without the white cover.
Snowfall delay on Fuji. All because of climate change
There was also a significant shift in the date of the first precipitation in 1955 and 2016 – snow fell on October 26. According to forecaster from the Kofu city meteorological office Yutaka Katsuta, the delay may be influenced by climate change. “The temperature was high this summer and stayed until September, which drove away the cold air that was bringing snow,” he told AFP.
Let us remind you that this year's summer, which also reached records in Poland, was the warmest in the history of Japan – we wrote more about it in the article: “There has never been a summer like this. Temperature records were broken in the world and in Europe“Importantly, in addition to Mount Fuji, noticeable changes also occurred in the city of Sapporo located on the northern island of Hokkaido, where the organizers of the Snow Festival began to consider limiting it.