TOKYO — Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, known for its snow cover this time of year, is still snow-free in November for the first time in 130 years, likely due to unusually warm temperatures over the past few weeks.

Meteorological officials said that the absence of snow on Mount Fuji, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, as of Tuesday broke the previous record set on October 26, 2016.

The peak of the 3,776-meter (about 12,300 feet) high mountain usually sees snowfall from October 2, about a month after the summer hiking season ends. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), snow fell on the mountain on October 5 last year.

Snowless Mount Fuji attracted attention on social media. People posted photos showing the bare mountain; some expressed surprise, while others expressed concern about climate change.

JMA’s Kofu Local Meteorological Office, the agency that keeps weather data in central Japan and announced the first snowfall on Mount Fuji in 1894, cited October’s surprisingly summery weather as the reason.

At its peak, the average October temperature was minus 2 Celsius (28.4 Fahrenheit), but this year the temperature was 1.6 Celsius (34.9 F), a record high since 1932.

Japan experienced an unusually hot summer and mild autumn this year again.

The mountain called “Fujisan”, the symbol of Japan, used to be a place of pilgrimage. With its snowy peak and nearly symmetrical slopes, the mountain has been the subject of numerous art forms, including Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji by Japanese ukiyoe artist Katsushika Hokusai.

Nowadays, it attracts the attention of hikers who climb to the top to see the sunrise. But tons of garbage left behind and overcrowding have triggered concerns and calls for measures to protect the environment and control overtourism.