Go Native 70 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 It probably snows more in Sapporo than in Denver or Salt Lake City if you're talking about downtown, but for access to great powder skiing from a million+ population center there's really no comparison. Sapporo is a terrific metro area for skiers/boarders, but no better than places like Zurich/Milan/Munich and many others. Just a whole lot more difficult and expensive to manage clearing all the snow. I think it costs up near $200 million each winter for all the snowclearing around Sapporo. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Sapporo city tax is HUGE! I couldn't believe when my mate told me how much he was each year Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Some of the Russian cities must get a fair bit of snow along with the cold.... Few of the Russian cities get much snow at all. It's damned cold and it can fall from as early as mid September right through May in Siberia but it's never a lot. It's because the colder air gets the less moisture it is able to hold in vapour form. So the airmass over places like Siberia in the middle of winter is generally extremely dry and of course extremely cold. I'd think the heaviest snowfalls experienced in Russia would probably be on the Kamchatka peninsula. Canadian cities get a bit. Montreal averages around 2.25m and Quebec City averages a bit over 3m. Salt Lake City only gets around 1.5m each winter (it is in a very arid region) and Denver is similar average at just under 1.5m. The only region in the world that exceeds the snowfalls to sea level that are found in Hokkaido would be in Alaska. Valdez at sea level averages around 8m of snowfall each winter. That is at 61 degrees North though so pretty damned dark in winter as well. Otaru and Sapporo are at the much more confortably mid latitude of 43 degrees North. Pretty incredible the amount of snow they get for that latitude. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Even after the cold Siberian air passes through the Sea of Japan and gets saturated with water they barely rise above the freezing point(supersaturated)? Is that right as it seldom rains even on the low lying cities like Otaru and Kutchan. Am I right? Why dont the conifers in Niseko form tree monsters (juhyo) as big as those found in Zao? And why the snow found in Zao isnt as powdrous as those in Niseko? Because its warmer at Zao? Would strong winds inhibit the growth of fernlike crystals?? So based on such fact the snow found in western coast of Sakhalin island would be more or less the same as those found in Niseko? But I hv never heard of any ski resorts there The air does become supersaturated as it moves over the Sea of Japan and this really helps in the formation of the dendrites. They require supersaturation. If the air is not supersaturated you're more likely to get plates and prisms form. There are virtually no conifers on the windward side of the mountains around Niseko. Most of the trees at altitude are Birch. There are some conifers around the region and they can certainly get pretty encased in snow and ice but just not as readily accessible or widespread as at Zao. Strong winds will inhibit growth of fernlike crystals and also cause the crystals to break as they collide with each other (they're pretty fragile). The West coast of Sakhalin doesn't get that much snow because the stretch of water between it and the mainland is much less. For the Sea Effect to work the fetch of the wind is important in how much moisture it can pick up. It's not enough in Sakhalin to make that much difference to the snowfall received there. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Once you get inland, more and more cloud formation is from transpiration, i.e., evaporation from leaves, not from clouds drifting over from the sea. Even if the forest hasn't been chopped down, and a lot of it has, you don't get much transpiration in winter. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 This ought to help with that transpiration thing Mr Wiggles... Link to post Share on other sites
kusanagi 0 Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 I think tree monsters could be formed on all types of trees, so it makes no difference whether they are conifers or birches. http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/primer/primer.htm4 The water is said to be supercooled, meaning simply that it is cooled below the freezing point. As the clouds gets colder, however, the droplets do start to freeze. This begins happening around -10 C (14 F), but it's a gradual process and the droplets don't all freeze at once. It is usually below -10C at Niseko so the water droplets in the Siberian wind automatically freeze into dendrites. Contrarily, the temperature at Zao is just above -10C so water droplets dont freeze. Instead they freeze and deposit instantaneously when it hits an object, that would be conifers. Correct me if I am wrong. I just found out that Kutchan receives an annual snowfall of around 12meters, which makes it able to beat Valdez. And It has a population of ~15000, more than that of Valdez (~4000) . Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Kutchan is at 176m above sea level though from memory whereas Valdez is at sea level. Around parts of the west coast of Hokkaido there might be a few spots that get up around the same as Valdez. Without doubt though Kutchan is definitely one of the snowiest towns on the planet. Link to post Share on other sites
kusanagi 0 Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 so stellar dendrites is a kind of wet snow? why doesnt it form slush? Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 so stellar dendrites is a kind of wet snow? why doesnt it form slush? Not sure where you get that idea from? As you can see on the following graph some dendrites can form at relatively mild temps close to freezing but the bulk of the dendrites that fall at Niseko are formed at temps between about -15 and -22 and a high supersaturation value. Under these conditions you often get the fernlike stellar dendrites forming and they are anything but wet! It's very light, flufffy and dry. Link to post Share on other sites
kusanagi 0 Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 so stellar dendrites is a kind of wet snow? why doesnt it form slush? Not sure where you get that idea from? As you can see on the following graph some dendrites can form at relatively mild temps close to freezing but the bulk of the dendrites that fall at Niseko are formed at temps between about -15 and -22 and a high supersaturation value. Under these conditions you often get the fernlike stellar dendrites forming and they are anything but wet! It's very light, flufffy and dry. So it is supersaturated wet winds yet dry fluffy powder Link to post Share on other sites
kusanagi 0 Posted December 25, 2012 Author Share Posted December 25, 2012 Go Native, what makes you able to stay in Japan for longer than the visa period?? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 He worked full time up there so Id guess he had a working visa and not the tourist visa. He's back living in Oz now tho Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Permanent residence status gets you there too. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Yep I am on a Permanent residence visa, which never expires and never needs renuing!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
anything 6 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Yep I am on a Permanent residence visa, which never expires and never needs renuing!!!! i want one! Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Yep I am on a Permanent residence visa, which never expires and never needs renuing!!!! i want one! Marry a Japanese national and have a kid. You'll get one quick enough. Link to post Share on other sites
anything 6 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Marry a Japanese national and have a kid. You'll get one quick enough. lol, is that all. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Plenty of guys on this site have done it I would have but I was already married when I went to live in Japan.... Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 You can't have all the luck!! Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Yep I am on a Permanent residence visa, which never expires and never needs renuing!!!! i want one! Marry a Japanese national and have a kid. You'll get one quick enough. That's like buying a Boeing 747 just to get the free bag of peanuts.......which is exactly what I did.... Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Yep I am on a Permanent residence visa, which never expires and never needs renuing!!!! i want one! Marry a Japanese national and have a kid. You'll get one quick enough. That's like buying a Boeing 747 just to get the free bag of peanuts.......which is exactly what I did.... But those peanuts are goooooood!! Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Mine got old and stale pretty fast...... .... Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 There's plenty left on the shelf Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 I hope you guys mean girls and not actually peanuts... I'm confused. Link to post Share on other sites
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