Niseko Now: Saturday 14th March 2015
- Mar 14, 2015
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 20cm
Snowfall at base this season 1114cm
Posted on Saturday 14th March 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Welcome to the weekend and it promises to be a top Saturday... right here slap bang in the middle of March as well.
There has been another 20cm of snowfall since my last report taking us to within 1cm of the snow that I observed for the whole of March 2014 last season. I was kind of tempted to put 21cm in there to bring them level but in the interests of complete honesty (always, of course!)... 20cm is what my trusted ruler told me.
And this morning, while there is still cloud around there is also some blue sky. Looks like the weather is going to be friendly today too with the winds at last calming.
There seems to be some late openings for some lifts (de-icing, digging out, maintenance, etc) but hopefully they'll all be going fairly quickly and we can have a fully connected mountain.
It should be a truly excellent day.
Looking ahead not much snow forecast for the coming week; rather, warmer conditions with it probably starting to feel much more like spring again.
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Last year the snow depth at official Niseko Grand Hirafu (reported by the resort) was 395cm on this day. As you can see below, today it's on a whopping 525cm. That's quite impressive I think and unless we really do heat up it's going to last a while.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -7C, 20cm of new snow in last 12 hrs. Moiwa 800m: light winds, -8C, 40cm new snow, Mikaeri cat track major snowdrift development easily fracturing at 80cm depth. Annupuri 1000m: snowpack 330cm. Hirafu 1000m: 40.cm new snow, light winds, -8C. Annupuri peak 1308m: -8.6C. Cape Benkei: WSW3m/s, Cape Kamui: light winds, pressure 1016hPa, wave 1.3m.
The isobars are spacing out under influence of high pressure and ocean and mountains are calm. The snow drifts are stabilizing, however expect 80cm fracture on 40 deg slopes. Above 800m cornice slopes, knolls high risk of avalanche continues. Also around 1000m Osawa, Kozen no sawa, Higashi One consider fractures at deeper layers as well as in surface layers. Dont go in valley bottoms. Gates 1, 2, 3, 4 will be closed. Gate 6 undecided. Please listen to the patrols instructions. The snow is in great, be careful of cracks and holes hidden by the new snow. Make wise decisions. Do not enter strictly off limits areas Yu no sawa, Mizuno no sawa, Haru no taki. If one person ducks the rope and enters, others will follow the tracks and increase the likelihood of an accident. If you are using the ski resorts you must follow the Niseko Rules. Have a good day.
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Official resort snow depths:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 520cm
Base - 210cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 320cm
Base - 180cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 400cm
Base - 220cm
Niseko Now 2014-2015 season |
Data as of Saturday 14th March 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 1114cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 79 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (15th & 26th December and 11th February) November 2014 snowfall 30cm reported on 5 days December 2014 snowfall 519cm reported on 25 days January 2015 snowfall 257cm reported on 23 days February 2015 snowfall 196cm reported on 18 days March 2015 snowfall 112cm reported on 8 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.