Visitor Center Report

Today is snowing and wind is strong.
Yesterday we got 18cm snow (Japan Meteorological Agency).
Snowdrift was about 30cm snow.
Here in Sounkyo is very close to mountains, the weather often gets rough.
Kamikawa town that is 20km far from Sounkyo is pretty good weather.
Sometimes we can see clear blue sky.
We found “Haliaeetus pelagicus” on a tree.
He seems to come to find crows and dead “Cervus nippon yesoensis”.

We went to find “Pteromys volans orii”
Fortunately we found their trace and hollow in a tree.
When he went out of his hollow, we could take pictures.
“Pteromys volans orii” is nocturnal animal.
At the same time the sun rises, they take a poop.
And then they go back to their hollow.
We think that “Brown bear ”hibernate.
Several days before it rained.
So we don’t go out in the evening to avoid meeting brown bears.
Brown bear will be surprised with such a strange temperature.
*When going to forest with snowshoes, be careful!

In the midnight it rained.
After that it changed to snow.
We got wet snow on the gorge.
Now wind blows strongly, snow storm.
We will get a lot of snow.
Weather forecast says that it won’t rain for a few days.
Today’s lowest temperature is under -10°c same as yesterday.
This low temperature will last until new Year.
Around New Year days it will be -20°c.
Sounkyo will be frigid place.

The temperature is often going up and down.
It’s so busy.
This early morning was -12°c.
In such a day we can see “window’s frost”.
Today’s frost pattern was like a fan.
That is very rare.
Frost pattern have many kinds of shapes, like a needle, far and blanch of trees.
Water vapor in the air freeze to make frost.