It's not official yet but Mount Fuji gets its trademark snowcap after the longest delay in 130 years

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Mount Fuji finally got its trademark snowcap early on Wednesday, more than a month after it normally would and after setting a record for the most-delayed snowfall in 130 years.

The first snowfall on Mt. Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site, could be seen from the southwestern side of the mountain, according to the Shizuoka branch of the Japan Meteorological Agency.

But the JMA's Kofu Local Meteorological Office, which is on the other side of the mountain and has been in charge of making the announcement since 1984, still could not see the snow due to cloudy weather — meaning it's not official yet.

The lack of snow on Mt. Fuji on Tuesday broke the previous record set on Oct. 26, 2016, meteorological officials said.

Usually, the 3,776-meter- (nearly 12,300-foot-) high mountain has sprinkles of snow falling on its summit starting Oct. 2, about a month after the summertime hiking season there ends. Last year, snow fell on the mountain on Oct. 5, according to the JMA.

The snowless Mt. Fuji has captured attention on social media. People posted photos showing the bare mountain, some expressing surprise and others concerned over climate change.

The JMA's Kofu office has cited October's surprisingly summery weather as the reason. The temperature earlier this year has been higher across Japan, including Mt. Fuji.

“Many people are waiting to see the snowcap and we've received many inquiries recently,” Kiryu said. He said clouds around the mountaintop have blocked the view since Wednesday morning, delaying the confirmation of the snowcap, but officials are continuing to try to get a peak at the first snowfall.

Kiryu said it is too early to link this year's late snowcap to global warming, noting Mt. Fuji's first snow last year was in early October, adding: “I think we need to examine data for a longer period of time to make any conclusion."

The average October temperature is minus 2 degrees Celsius (28.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at the summit, but this year, it was 1.6 C, (34.9 F), a record high since 1932.

Japan this year also had an unusually hot summer and warm autumn.

A symbol of Japan, the mountain called “Fujisan” used to be a place of pilgrimage. The mountain with its snowy top and near symmetrical slopes have been the subject of numerous forms of art, including Japanese ukiyoe artist Katsushika Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.

Today, it attracts hikers who climb to the summit to see the sunrise. But tons of trash left behind and overcrowding have triggered concern and calls for environmental protection and measures to control overtourism.

Jun Kubota, a weather forecaster and a climber who grew up in Yamanashi, one of the two prefectures that are home to Mt. Fuji, says he is concerned if this year's delayed snowfall is part of a trend.

“I wonder if the season we can enjoy the snow is getting shorter, not just at Mt. Fuji but also on other mountains in central Japan or on Hokkaido," Kubota said in a Zoom call. i

He noted reports of snow shortage on ski slopes in recent years. “I'm afraid there could be an impact not only on snow mountain climbing, but also winter sports in general.”

AP video journalist Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.

FILE - Mount Fuji in the early morning sunlight is seen from Lake Kawaguchi, Japan, on Aug. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Mt. Fuji is snowcapped, seen from Shizuoka prefecture, central Japan Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

Mt. Fuji in Japan is covered with snow Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

Mt. Fuji in Japan is covered with snow Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

Mt. Fuji in Japan is covered with snow Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Three-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana was locked in his toughest reelection challenge yet Wednesday, with a key Senate seat on the line in a state that has veered sharply rightward since the 68-year-old grain farmer’s first election.

Republicans have pinned their hopes on Tim Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and founder of an aerial firefighting company. Sheehy, 38, had early backing from party leaders including former President Donald Trump, clearing the political newcomer's path to win the June primary.

It is the first time Tester shared the same ballot as Trump, who once again won Montana by a wide margin.

Long lines at polling places delayed vote counting and kept some people in line to vote in the middle of the night in frigid, snowy weather. Roughly 200 voters were still in line after midnight at the courthouse in one of the state’s largest counties, Gallatin, some four hours after polls closed. By 3 a.m., about 20 people remained in line and election officials declined to release results until the last person had voted.

Near the back of the line that snaked through the building and down the courthouse steps to the sidewalk, Davor Danevski of Bozeman said he’d been waiting in the cold for almost five hours.

“The last two elections I missed because I was living abroad in Europe. I didn’t want to miss a third election,” said Danevski, a 38-year-old tech worker. “Too many people don’t take it as seriously as they should.”

A Sheehy victory would bolster the GOP's newfound control of the U.S. Senate and seal Republican Party dominance across the five-state Northern Plains region: Tester entered office as one of six Democratic senators in the largely rural swath of American heartland that also includes Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. He is now the only one.

The lawmaker also is the sole remaining Democrat to hold statewide office in Montana. As results began trickling in Tuesday night, Tester rallied supporters to stand with him.

“I have never had a race called on election night, and I don’t anticipate this one is going to be called on election night,” Tester said at a gathering in a Great Falls hotel. “In the end, with your help and with the folks who are standing in line still, we’re gonna win this damn thing."

Sheehy took the stage at a hotel ballroom in Bozeman after 2 a.m. Wednesday and thanked his supporters, family and staff.

“We are going to dedicate our time and our energies to make sure we get this country back on the right track, to make Montana and America work for all Americans,” he said.

About four in 10 voters said Senate control was the most important factor in deciding how to vote in Montana’s Senate race, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 1,100 voters in the state.

Overall, almost six in 10 Montana voters said the future of democracy was the most important factor in casting their vote in the general election. About one-third said the high price of groceries, gas and other goods was the most important factor, and roughly three in 10 voters cited the future of free speech in the U.S.

About a quarter of voters said abortion policy was the top factor in casting their vote in the general election. About eight in 10 voters also said the outcome of the state’s abortion ballot initiative was very or somewhat important to them.

The Senate candidates and their allies shattered political spending records and barraged voters with almost $300 million in ads on TV, radio, their phones and in their mailboxes. Total spending is expected to reach about $500 for each active registered voter in Montana.

In the race’s final days, Tester’s campaign plastered Montana newspapers and airwaves with advertisements amplifying claims from a former park ranger that Sheehy lied about a bullet wound in his arm.

Sheehy said during an interview with conservative pundit Megyn Kelly that the wound came from combat in Afghanistan and wasn’t accidentally self-inflicted as he told the ranger in 2015. The Republican said Tester was trying to smear him and other SEALs vouched for Sheehy’s integrity, but he hasn't released any corroborating medical records.

Montana's political profile has shifted dramatically since Tester's first election in 2006. It went from a “purple” state that traditionally sent a mix of Democrats and Republicans to higher offices, to one where partisan divisions rule and the GOP enjoys a supermajority in the state Legislature.

Tester warned throughout the campaign about “outsiders” such as Sheehy — who came to Montana in 2014 and bought a ranch — driving up housing prices and restricting hunting and fishing access for the general public.

Tester, the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, has built a record as a moderate over his 18 years in office. He has delivered legislation such as expanding health care for veterans and bringing broadband to rural areas, while sometimes opposing Democratic proposals to tighten rules for the energy industry.

But Tester also consistently voted with Democrats on major legislation, putting him out of step with Montana's hardening conservatism.

Gerry Boland, a Great Falls businessman, said he’s supported Tester since his first run for U.S. Senate in 2006, including holding a fundraiser for him.

“He just has a way of coming through at the end. We’re still hanging in there with Jon," Boland said.

In the small city of Columbus, Montana, John Hungerford, 71, said after casting his ballot for Sheehy that Tester hadn't done enough to address his top issues — immigration and inflation — and too often followed the Democratic party line.

“His voting record is not indicative of the values in Montana,” Hungerford said.

Sheehy sought to dent Tester's reputation for authenticity by highlighting more than $500,000 that lobbyists and their families donated to Tester this election cycle. Republicans alleged a pattern of campaign donations flowing to the Democrat from industries that needed his vote, after the lawmaker faced scrutiny over donations from bank executives affected by a 2018 regulatory roll back and from Lockheed Martin employees who benefited from a 2021 defense bill.

There was no indication of wrongdoing by Tester. But Sheehy's tactic mirrored Tester’s 2006 upset of a three-term Republican incumbent who was ensnared in a lobbying scandal.

Sheehy touted his military service and business experience and also linked Tester to the perceived failures of the Biden-Harris administration.

“We’ve got an economy that’s on its knees. We’ve got foreign policy crises all over the world that we can’t even hope to begin to address right now. It’s time for a change in leadership,” Sheehy said.

The Tester campaign's response was to remind voters of his longtime advocacy in Congress for Montana's economically vital agriculture industry.

Tester also paired his campaign with efforts to pass a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. It was part of an effort to court the independents and moderate Republicans whose support has kept Tester in office even as the state shifted rightward.

Charles and Pearl Cunningham walk into Drummond Community Hall to vote in Drummond, Mont., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

A home decorated to support Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in Anaconda, Mont., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

Missoulians vote at the Missoula Public Library in Missoula, Mont., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

"I Voted" stickers are seen at Drummond Community Hall in Drummond, Mont., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

Signs marking a polling place stand in Bonner, Mont., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

Karen DesRosier places an "I Voted" sticker on her chest after casting a ballot at the Drummond Community Hall in Drummond, Mont., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

Charles Cunningham plays the piano as his mother Pearl votes at Drummond Community Hall in Drummond, Mont., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

Kirsten Kearse, right, casts her ballot at the Missoula Public Library in Missoula, Mont., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

FILE - U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy talks about his campaign, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, in Helena, Mont. Sheehy is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in the November election. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana seeking re-election to a fourth term, is seen at a campaign rally in a hotel ballroom, Oct. 25, 2024, in Bozeman, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

FILE - This combination of images shows from left, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, and opponent, Republican Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, during a debate in Missoula, Mont., on Sept. 30, 2024. (Ben Allan Smith/The Missoulian via AP, File)