Niseko Now: Thursday 14th February 2019
- Feb 14, 2019
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 14cm
Snowfall at base this season 877cm
Posted on Thursday 14th February 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
I almost feel like I could do a bit of automated copy-pasting and spend more time with my toast in a morning at the moment.
There was a bit of blue sky once again for a short time late morning yesterday, but for the most part not much scenery to be enjoyed. But there was most certainly lots of lovely snow to be enjoyed.
And this morning there's another 14cm of snowfall to report.
Snow. Very cold. Limited visibility. That kind of thing. It might be a little more windy today but I doubt enough to trouble the normal operation of lifts.
It still looks like there may be some clearer skies early in the week next week and probably a bit of snow every day until then.
It is Valentines Day today - hurray! - and I suspect there might be some sweets being handed out in places today. If not, I know I'll be jolly disappointed. I see Annupuri are going to be supplying chocolate to the first 100 people who buy a lift ticket this morning - boys or girls. (The 'tradition' in Japan is that Valentines day is when chocolate is supplied to boys from girls. And chocolate is supplied to girls from boys on White Day on March 14th. That lot is a discussion for a different place!)
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Mountain base 6am: -10℃, 15cm snowfall in 24h. Moiwa800m: -12.9℃, W7.3m/s, cornice and snowdrifts developments. Mikaeri junction: -12℃, snowdrifts developments. Annupuri1120m snow depth 250cm. Mizuno no sawa 12cm snowfall in 12h, NNW9-13.5m/s, 185cm snow depth. Hirafu peak: -17℃, strong winds developing snowdrifts, 25cm snowfall in 12h. Suttsu weather station: -5.0℃, 61cm snow depth. Kutchan: -16.9℃, 198cm snow depth. Benkei cape: N9m/s, Kamui cape: NNE3m/s, 1023hPa, 2.0m waves.
Intermittent 10-15m/s northerly storm has persisted above 800m elevation, making cornices and snowdrifts develop slowly. The sea surface temperature is relatively high, making snow clouds form more abundantly and resulting in higher snow precipitation than average. The avalanche hazard level in leeward slopes above 800m elevation is moderately high. All gates are scheduled to open. Do not stimulate cornices and knolls and ride one by one. Avoid valley bottoms and better not stop halfway down a slope. Do not traverse across slopes under cornices. The weather is changing quickly, beware of whiteouts. Safety is never guaranteed in Winter Mountains.
The snow condition is awesome again today.
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Ski resort operation information: Thursday 14th February 2019
Subject to change due to weather conditions
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 380cm
- Base: 180cm
Ski lifts operating:
- All lifts planning to be operating as normal at the start of the day (Ace Number 1 and King Number 2 lifts rested)
- The Ace Family quad (until 8:30pm), Ace Center 4 quad (8:20pm), Hirafu Gondola (until 8:10pm) and Holiday Number 1 pair (until 8:30pm) lifts are normally open during the evening
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 285cm
- Base: 240cm
Ski lifts operating:
- All lifts planning to be operating as normal at the start of the day
- The Hanazono lifts are normally open until 3:50pm (Number 3 until 3:30pm)
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Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 320cm
- Base: 170cm
Ski lifts operating:
- All lifts planning to be operating as normal at the start of the day
- The Jumbo 1 lift is normally open until 8:30pm during the evening
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 320cm
- Base: 170cm
Ski lifts operating:
- All lifts planning to be operating as normal at the start of the day (Country Road lift rested)
- The Upper Village Gondola, Village Express and Banzai Chair lifts are normally open until 8:00pm during the evening
Niseko Now 2018-2019 season |
Data as of Thursday 14th February 2019 Total snowfall at base so far 877cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 73 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 32cm (29th December) November 2018 snowfall 84cm reported on 8 days December 2018 snowfall 333cm reported on 26 days January 2019 snowfall 285cm reported on 25 days February 2019 snowfall 175cm reported on 14 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.