Mt. Fuji observes season's first snowcap, latest ever in 130 years

TOKYO - Japan's Mount Fuji donned its first snowcap this season on Thursday, the latest in 130 years, following unusually warm weather, local media reported.

The Kofu Local Meteorological Office, which makes the annual official announcement, said officials visually confirmed that the country's tallest peak was dusted with snow at 6:15 am local time, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported.

Following the confirmation, this year's first snowfall date officially beat the previous record of Oct 26 in 1955 and 2016, marking the latest since record-keeping began in 1894.

The temperature fell to minus 8.4 degrees at the summit of the 3,776-meter mountain straddling Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures around 7 am local time.

Snow was observed from some locations on Wednesday, but the Kofu observatory on the Yamanashi side did not confirm the snowfall due to clouds blocking the view.

Meteorological officials said rainfall did not result in snow in October, when average temperatures at the mountaintop were the highest on record.

On average, the first snowfall on Mount Fuji was Oct 2. In 2023, snow was first observed on Oct 5, records show.