Sukayu Onsen
Sukayu Onsen (酸ヶ湯, Sukayu) is an onsen (hot spring) in the Hakkōda Mountains in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture in Japan. It is known for its "Sen-nin-buro" or "1,000-person bath", a large mixed gender public bath.
| Sukayu Onsen 酸ヶ湯 | |
|---|---|
 Sukayu Onsen in the winter | |
| Location | Hakkōda Mountains, Towada-Hachimantai National Park, Aomori, Japan |
| Coordinates | 40°39′03″N 140°51′01″E |
| Elevation | 925 meters (3,035 ft) |
| Type | varied |
| Temperature | -10.4 - 22 °C (13.3 - 71.6 °F) |
   | |
Climate
Sukayu Onsen is the snowiest inhabited place on Earth with an average yearly snowfall of 17.6 m (58 ft) and a winter season record of 23.7 m (78 ft). It also holds the record of having the highest snow depth ever recorded at a JMA certified weather station of 566 cm (18.57 ft), recorded on February 26, 2013.[1] Despite the extremely high snowfall, Sukayu Onsen is accessible by road all year round.
Sukayu Onsen, despite the incredibly high yearly snowfall, has a humid continental climate (Dfb), and is one of the coldest and snowiest inhabited places in Japan. Summers are generally short, but mild too warm with many rainy days. Winters are very cold by Japanese standards and extremely snowy, due to the high elevation and the Aleutian Low pumping out loads of snow. Springs and Autumns can be highly variable, being rainy, snowy, cold, mild, or sunny, or all kinds of weather in a single week.
| Climate data for Sukayu Onsen: Averages (1981-2010), Records (1977-2012) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
10.6 (51.1) |
13.5 (56.3) |
21.1 (70.0) |
24.7 (76.5) |
27.0 (80.6) |
28.9 (84.0) |
30.8 (87.4) |
27.2 (81.0) |
22.4 (72.3) |
16.4 (61.5) |
11.3 (52.3) |
30.8 (87.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | −5.1 (22.8) |
−4.7 (23.5) |
−0.7 (30.7) |
6.6 (43.9) |
12.6 (54.7) |
17.3 (63.1) |
20.6 (69.1) |
22.0 (71.6) |
17.3 (63.1) |
11.0 (51.8) |
4.1 (39.4) |
−2.1 (28.2) |
8.2 (46.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −7.6 (18.3) |
−7.2 (19.0) |
−3.9 (25.0) |
3.0 (37.4) |
8.7 (47.7) |
13.4 (56.1) |
17.2 (63.0) |
18.5 (65.3) |
13.7 (56.7) |
7.4 (45.3) |
0.9 (33.6) |
−4.8 (23.4) |
4.9 (40.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −10.4 (13.3) |
−10.1 (13.8) |
−7.3 (18.9) |
−0.7 (30.7) |
4.7 (40.5) |
9.6 (49.3) |
14.2 (57.6) |
15.4 (59.7) |
10.3 (50.5) |
3.9 (39.0) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
1.7 (35.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −17.8 (0.0) |
−17.3 (0.9) |
−14.9 (5.2) |
−10.9 (12.4) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
0.5 (32.9) |
5.0 (41.0) |
7.6 (45.7) |
0.0 (32.0) |
−4.8 (23.4) |
−13.8 (7.2) |
−18.0 (−0.4) |
−18.0 (−0.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | — | — | — | — | 125.5 (4.94) |
128.6 (5.06) |
171.4 (6.75) |
197.3 (7.77) |
210.0 (8.27) |
194.9 (7.67) |
197.9 (7.79) |
140.7 (5.54) |
— |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 459 (181) |
362 (143) |
238 (94) |
113 (44) |
56 (22) |
3 (1.2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
15 (5.9) |
154 (61) |
364 (143) |
1,764 (695.1) |
| Source: JMA[2] | |||||||||||||
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)