Furano Now: Friday 8th May 2026
- May 8
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Furano region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 552cm
Posted on Friday 8th May 2026 This is an archived report. The latest Furano Now report can be found here.
Another season done and in the books.
So how was 2025-26 here in Furano? The visitors said "great!"
The local powder people would say, "Meh."
Like 2024-25, we were about 3 meters (or 40%) down from our 8-meter average. That still left over 5 meters of snowfall to enjoy, and the quality was good. There were no coverage problems at the resort, but there just wasn’t a thrilling amount of volume. Only one "dump" happened in my book, but I heard regularly from the back-country powder junkies that the good stuff was still out there, not as much mind you, you just had to go find it. I wasn't in a finding mood this season.
Here's a telling anecdote: I didn’t have to dig my car out in the morning this season at all. Not even once. That usually happens a good half-dozen times per winter. Our snow came in dribs and drabs this year, but our dribs and drabs are pretty great. In contrast to the poor season in Europe, and the disastrous one in North America, we were flat out awesome.
Still and all, my fingers are crossed for next year. After two below-average seasons in a row, surely next year will be better, perhaps even epic. Don’t take my whining lamentations to heart. I am quite spoiled living here. We’re all at the mercy of Mother Nature, and the waiting and expectation are part of The Quest for days that live in your memory forever. So, Furano has been down a bit recently. Others have had it much worse.
Probably the hardest thing to communicate about the snow in central Hokkaido is the quality. It’s impossible to describe. The locals are agreed that when we try, people think we’ve been hitting the weed too hard, or we’re just exaggerating. The thing is, we’re not. You’ve got to touch it to believe it. And believe this: when it’s on, when there’s 2 feet overnight, or 8 feet over a week, you’ll never ski better powder in your life. No hyperbole - just a fact.
See you next season. Think snow.
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A message from SnowJapan
This message is being published on each of our daily report pages and is not specific to Yuzawa
The season is now over for all but a few ski areas, and the last of our daily reporting for 2025-2026 has been posted. I hope that our independent reporting has once again helped many people this past ski season. With our large and wide-reaching readership from every part of the world, we feel a real sense of responsibility for the information we publish.
A sincere thank you to the wonderful reporters who contribute to our daily reporting.
It has been another long season with more unique stories from around the country. A general Japan season wrap-up seems inappropriate, given the vast differences across the country's many mountainous regions. Still, I think it's fair to say that in most regions, 2025-2026 was not a top-tier classic for Japan in terms of snowfall.
But... that is comparing Japan with Japan – and, as we all know, that is a very high bar!
All being well, later this year, a from-the-ground-up new version of SnowJapan will replace the current site (which has been online since February 2022).
Work started on the new project over a year ago. I don't want to reveal details just yet, as there is still a lot of work to do and some things may change. The main goal of this renewal is to simplify and refine the site, keep things 'light', with a focus on improving core content and usability. It's a lot of work, but with all the foundations now largely in place, it is exciting to start seeing it all come together. Hopefully, the end result will work out as imagined.
It might be a shock to the system when the changeover happens, but not to worry - the basic concept and values that have guided SnowJapan since 1999 are still very much firmly in place.
Furano Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Friday 8th May 2026 Total snowfall at base 552cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 69 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (6th December) November 2025 snowfall 45cm reported on 5 days December 2025 snowfall 234cm reported on 22 days January 2026 snowfall 163cm reported on 22 days February 2026 snowfall 78cm reported on 14 days March 2026 snowfall 29cm reported on 5 days April 2026 snowfall 3cm reported on 1 day May 2026 snowfall 0cm |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Furano. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report.