Niseko Now: Friday 11th March 2016
- Mar 11, 2016
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 12cm
Snowfall at base this season 940cm
Posted on Friday 11th March 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning to you all from my secret base here in Hirafu and - just like yesterday - there's 12cm of fresh snow to report since I last posted. Nice.
It ended up snowing through lots of the day yesterday and with the Avalanche Report saying 20cm of snow up at Moiwa and I'm hearing similar from Grand Hirafu staff on mountain, it should be a good morning.
Things are keeping nice and cold as well and feeling suitably winter-y this morning and decent snow falling as I write this. With more snow expected today and tomorrow as well, hopefully there'll be another decent number to report tomorrow and conditions should be good for the start of the weekend.
Today is one of those rare days when I'm going to try and get first tracks in. So hope to see you out there.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6.00am: -6°C, calm, 15cm new crystal snow. Moiwa 838m: -9.2°C, NE1.0m/s, 20cm new snow, minor snowdrift development. Hirafu Ridgeline: -10°C, 15cm new snow, calm. Annupuri 1000m: snowpack 300cm. Annupuri 1150m: W15m/s, 15cm new snow, snowdrift development. Coastal data: Benkei Cape:W5m/s. Kamui Cape NW6m/s, 1015hPa, wave 1.1m.
Atmospheric pressure gradient is shallow and below 1100m weather is calm. Take care on western sides of the mountain above 1100m (Osawa, upper levels of Kozan no sawa), the developing snow drifts are forming slabs. There is possibility of surface slab avalanches up to 30cm thickness on steep slopes fracturing on Mar 9th layer. Some areas of the mountain are completely bare of new snow, exposing the icy Mar 9th layer, take care slipping in these areas. Snow below 1000m is good in the trees and old surface completely buried in new snow. All peak gates are expected to open. Out of bounds areas are not managed. Listen to the patrols advice before leaving the ski area. Wind is expected to pick up around noon again. Be careful of a sudden change in weather. The mountains are back to winter conditions. Have a good day.
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Official resort snow depths as of Friday 11th March 2016:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 380cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Village
Top - 370cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 370cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Friday 11th March 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 940cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 75 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 38cm (17th February) November 2015 snowfall 61cm reported on 4 days December 2015 snowfall 244cm reported on 17 days January 2016 snowfall 303cm reported on 26 days February 2016 snowfall 266cm reported on 22 days March 2016 snowfall 66cm 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 Kutchan/Niseko. 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.