Niseko Now: Thursday 14th February 2013
- Feb 14, 2013
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 16, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 20cm
Snowfall at base this season 1116cm
Weather overview Cloud, light snow
Wind
Light
Temperature -4C base / -9C top
Visibility Generally poor
Posted at 8:23am on Thursday 14th February 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Yesterday we ended up with a very fine day in Niseko. The sun was out and we got some very nice blue skies.
Snow clouds moved in and by late afternoon it was snowing. The result is up to 20cm or so of lovely fresh dry light snow on the ground this morning in the village area. No doubt more than that up on the mountain. Snow is still falling now and visibility is pretty low this morning. A small price to pay.
It's not as cold this morning, right now around -4 degrees in the Hirafu area, and it's fairly calm with a light north westerly wind, so no worries about lift operations this morning - they should all be up and running as planned at the resorts.
The forecast for the coming week looks like we should see pretty consistent snowfall on and off and temperatures remaining suitably low. Sounds good to me.
Should be a good day. See you tomorrow.
Avalanche Information
Niseko base 6am:-6C, 15cm of crystal snow. Moiwa 800m: -8C, 20cm of new snow, calm wind and no development of snowdrifts. Annupuri peak:W5.8m/s, -11.6C. Coastal data: WNW11m/s, 0.8m waves and 1019hPa.
A notable layer (Feb 13th) has formed due to yesterday's sunshine and 15-30cm of new snow has blanketed it. The pressure isobars are spaced out and the no notable development of snowdrifts can be observed under 800m. A moderate westerly wind (10m/s) is stagnating above 1000m and slowly forming soft slabs in leeward slopes. Large surface slab slide from Feb 13th layer is to be taken into consideration in 40°leeward slopes, however the general avalanche risk is low. The snow in the trees has been reset. Another magical day in Niseko.
Gates 2 & 3 are scheduled to open at 10am. Be equipped and well prepared for backcountry riding. Intermittent snowfall is forecasted during the morning and the visibility will remain bad. The are no indications in the out of bounds areas, ignorantly following other people or unknown tracks may lead you straying in the middle of nowhere. Carry at least a map. One easy mistake can lead to serious consequences in the backcountry. Beware of hitting trees and falling into cracks. Cracks are forming everywhere now and cannot be seen from above. Have a nice day.
Niseko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Thursday 14th February 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 1116cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 74 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (27th January) November 2012 snowfall 118cm reported on 11 days December 2012 snowfall 418cm reported on 27 days January 2013 snowfall 443cm reported on 26 days February 2013 snowfall 137cm reported on 10 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.