Niseko Now: Friday 13th March 2020
- Mar 13, 2020
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 5cm
Snowfall at base this season 698cm
Posted on Friday 13th March 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning and this morning I bring you fresh news of even fresher snowfall.
Allow me to rewind, as we enjoyed some beautiful blue skies yesterday.
Late night it started snowing. (Hurray!)
But it turned into rain. (Doh!)
Before turning into snow again. (Hurray!)
Come on now, make your mind up. (We much prefer snow, by the way).
Anyway, the result is I have 5cm of fresh snowfall observed down here, but it is worth pointing out that the Avalanche Report below is reporting up to 20cm; and also that Niseko Grand Hirafu are reporting 25cm and Hanazono are reporting 30cm.
Those are impressive numbers and I'd like to check them out for myself...
As I have mentioned before, when it comes to late season there will often be larger differences between what falls down at base and what potentially falls higher up on the mountain. But of course my observations come to you (consistently every day through the season) from base. Apart from the fact that I can't do 'top of mountain' observations, it would mess up consistency if I suddenly switched from base to top. Obviously, not going go do that.
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Wind is affecting top lifts at the start of the day today. All top lifts (apart from the Hanazono one) on hold as of 8:30am.
Annupuri Gondola and the Wonderland Chair at Niseko village also.
Let's checking!
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Moiwa Base: 0°, 20cm new snow in last 12 hrs, wet snow. Moiwa 800m:NW 309deg 8.5m/s, -1.9°, snowing, poor visibility, snowdrift development. Annupuri 1100m: W 267deg 9.3m/s, -4.4°. Yu no Sawa 1000m: WNW 280deg 3.6m/s, -3.9°. Niseko Village 900m: W 267deg 4.3m/s, -3.0°. Hirafu 1000m :ESE 103deg 0.7m/s, -3.8°. Hanazono 720m: NNW 343deg 4.5m/s, -1.8°. Coastal data: Benkei Cape: W11m/s. Kamui Cape SW 18m/s, 1005hPa, wave 2.3m.
A cold front passed through after midnight with very strong winds(above 25m/s) above 800m causing rapid cornice and snowdrift development. Winds have started to drop since 5am. From observation and data there has been unstable snow drift deposits up to 60cm on south facing knolls above 800m which are fracturing easily on weak layers. Avalanche risk is high. Gate openings are yet to be decided. Below 700m the snow is reset with wet snowdrifts in the trees, however be careful in steep areas like gully sidewalls where heavy surface avalanches from the 12th Mar layer are easily occurring. Less than 30 deg forested slopes are fun to ride. Avoid riding above or over knolls.
The risk of full depth avalanches is rising in Osawa, Kozan no Sawa, Higashi One and Mizuno no Sawa. Until the snow stabilizes best to avoid the valley bottoms. Surface avalanches during spring storms run long distances and have devastating power. On March 13, 1965, an avalanche accident occurred in the Satsunai River in the Hidaka Mountains under similar conditions, where 6 people died. Always be cautious without overconfidence. Don't be at the bottom of the valley.
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Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 295cm
- Base: 110cm
All lifts are normally operating EXCEPT:
- Ace Number 1 pair lift (normally rested)
- King Number 2 quad lift (normally rested)
Lifts scheduled for late operations:
- Ace Family quad until 8:30pm
- Ace Number 2 Center Four quad until 8:20pm
- Hirafu Gondola until 8:10pm
- Holiday Number 1 pair until 8:30pm
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 198cm
- Base: 115cm
All lifts are normally operating
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Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 185cm
- Base: 110cm
All lifts are normally operating
Lift scheduled for late operations:
- Jumbo Number 1 quad until 8:30pm
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 190cm
- Base: 110cm
All lifts normally operating EXCEPT:
- Country Road Chair (normally rested)
Lifts scheduled for late operations:
- Annupuri Village Gondola until 8:00pm
- Village Express until 8:00pm
- Banzai Chair until 8:00pm
Niseko Now 2019-2020 season |
Data as of Friday 13th March 2020 Total snowfall at base so far 698cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 77 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 33cm (21st January) November 2019 snowfall 85cm reported on 10 days December 2019 snowfall 207cm reported on 21 days January 2020 snowfall 224cm reported on 20 days February 2020 snowfall 143cm reported on 19 days March 2020 snowfall 39cm reported on 7 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.