Hakuba Now: Sunday 8th January 2023
- Jan 8, 2023
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Hakuba region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 202cm
Posted on Sunday 8th January 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Hakuba Now report can be found here.
A fine day yesterday. Lots of cloud stuck around but there was blue sky and sun too.
No snow is being reported by the ski areas in Hakuba Village this morning but there has been a little snow in places, and more as you go north. Both Cortina and Tsugaike are reporting a layer of 10cm of fresh. It seems like the snow clouds generally stayed a bit to the north. It's variable weather this morning as well with cloud and some blue sky in places and light snow still falling in others (again, to the north). A difficult one to pin down!
Maybe a sunny start tomorrow but snow due again overnight and into Tuesday.
Changing the subject, someone asked about 'the mask thing' I touched on in a comment yesterday.
(I'll try to avoid minefields in my comments here!)
For most Japanese people, the situation seems pretty straightforward. People still generally wear facemasks when out and about, even though it is mainly on a request basis (rather than being a law). Some months ago, the Japanese government did actually say that facemasks were not always necessary in outdoor situations when there are not many people around, but that did not seem to have much effect on general behaviour.
Most people seem to wear them without being overly bothered. It's just what you do. For many years pre-covid, people in this country have been used to wearing masks when they have a cold or feel unwell. (Or don't want to apply make-up in the morning! Yes, that has been known to be a thing.) So culturally, people are used to the concept of wearing facemasks, and there is little fuss. It feels like it will take time for things to change...
For those coming to Japan in the coming weeks: the situation will immediately become evident once you arrive at the airport and venture beyond.
It is obviously not for me to tell other people what to do, so I won't. I'm sure visitors will each observe the situation on the ground and make decisions regarding their behaviour.
For what it's worth, I usually wear a balaclava type head covering when I'm skiing, but I was wearing that pre-covid - my face gets cold! I wear a facemask off the slopes when I feel it is appropriate, even in a few situations where I personally think it is a bit over-the-top. I am fine going along with the social norms.
I feel that this year the mention of covid-19 in ski area environments seems much less prominent than last year, and the fuss made over enforcement (for want of a better word) also seems less. But that kind of thing varies from place to place.
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Total snowfall accumulation this season so far (in upper areas)
[The information below is manually checked with official sources and updated every morning]
ABLE Hakuba Goryu: 294cm
Hakuba 47: 245cm
Hakuba Happo-one: 199cm
Hakuba Cortina: 248cm
Tsugaike Mountain Resort: 262cm
* There is often a delay of one day in new numbers being reported
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ABLE Hakuba Goryu
Reported snowfall:
Upper: 0cm (Alps Daira)
Official snow depth:
Upper: 230cm
Toomi: 110cm
Hakuba 47
Reported snowfall since last night:
Upper: 0cm
Base: 0cm
Official snow depth:
Top: 225cm
Base: 110cm
Hakuba Cortina
Base: 10cm
Official snow depth:
190cm
Hakuba Happo-one
Reported snowfall:
Kurobishi: 0cm
Usagidaira: 0cm
Top of Riesen quad: 0cm (social media)
Nakiyama: 0cm
Official snow depth:
Kurobishi: 220cm
Usagidaira: 117cm
Nakiyama: 67cm
Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field
Reported snowfall:
Mountain Side: 0cm
Village Side: 0cm
Official snow depth:
Mountain Side: 100cm
Village Side: 30cm
Hakuba Norikura Onsen
Official snow depth:
205cm
Hakuba Valley Kashimayari
Official snow depth:
100cm
Jigatake
Official snow depth:
70cm
Tsugaike Mountain Resort
Reported snowfall:
Upper: 10cm
Official snow depth:
Upper: 192cm
Lower: 62cm
White Resort Hakuba Sanosaka
Official snow depth:
95cm
Hakuba Now 2022-2023 season |
Data as Sunday 8th January 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 202cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 23 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 29cm (24th December) November 2022 snowfall 0cm December 2022 snowfall 164cm reported on 17 days January 2023 snowfall 38cm reported on 6 days |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Hakuba. 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.