Niseko Now: Wednesday 16th February 2022
- Feb 16, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 7, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 6cm
Snowfall at base this season 901cm
Posted on Wednesday 16th February 2022 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko.
It's snowing now but not a whole lot to report, at least what I see and measured (which makes me really curious about the Avalanche Report today). But anyway, hopefully we'll get some cm today and in the coming days.
Hmmm, it is a bit windy this morning and the southerly wind is affecting top lifts at the start of the day.
Outside the weather meaning, everything feels so very calm and quiet. I can't think of many other words to use today, so I'll leave you until tomorrow and wish you a fine day.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Moiwa base: -5℃, 15cm low pressure snow overnight. Moiwa 800m: -7℃, S8m/s, 15cm snowfall, snowdrift development with easterly wind. Annupuri 1150m: -7℃, heavy snowfall under 800m elevation, strong SE wind at 1000m elevation with poor visibility. Hirafu 1250m: -13℃, strong SE wind with poor visibility above 1000m elevation, heavy snowfall. Coastal data Bekei cape: S13m/s, Kamui cape: NE11m/s, 1006hPa, 1.0m waves.
Heavy snowfall overnight as the low pressure system approaches slowly. Slopes above 1000m elevation have poor visibility with southerly storms. This current low pressure snowfall brings a lot of snow in a short time, when the snowfall exceeds 30cm, “flow-type” avalanches can occur on steep slopes. This type of avalanche is slow, less than 70km/s, but also occurs even in the forests. Be careful, as the snow increases, unstable slabs will develop and which can trigger high speed surface avalanches. As the wind and snow intensify, snowdrifts will develop rapidly with south easterly wind above 800m elevation and the risk of avalanche will increase. Snow in the tree runs is semi reset, it’s better not to go above the tree lines. The number of cracks in Hirafu/Hanazono area is increasing rapidly. Especially the crack in “Jackson” is getting bigger. Be careful falling into cracks. Most accidents occur during stormy conditions. Follow patrols instructions. Snow conditions change daily.
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Planned ski area operations: Wednesday 16th February 2022
The below snow depth and snowfall data is manually checked each morning from official sources.
Lift information is the planned operations for the day (nature might intervene).
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 385cm (-5cm)
- Base: 210cm (no change)
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 5cm
- Base: 5cm
Planned lift operations (subject to weather conditions):
- Ace Family quad
- Ace Number 2 Center Four quad [* open for night skiing until 7:00pm]
- Hirafu Gondola
- King Number 3 quad
- King Number 4
- Swinging Monkey
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 328cm (-2cm)
- Base: 248cm (-2cm)
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 4cm
- Base: 6cm
Planned lift operations (subject to weather conditions):
- Hanazono Number 1
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
- Hanazono Symphony Gondola [* open for night skiing until 7:00pm]
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Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 310cm (no change)
- Base: 220cm (no change)
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 0cm
- Base: 0cm
Planned lift operations (subject to weather conditions):
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad [* open for night skiing until 7:30pm]
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 4 pair
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 290cm
- Base: 230cm
Planned lift operations (subject to weather conditions):
- Niseko Gondola
- Village Express
- Community Chair [* open for night skiing until 7:00pm]
- Banzai Chair
- Wonderland Chair
Niseko Now 2021-2022 season |
Data as of Wednesday 16th February 2022 Total snowfall at base so far 901cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 72 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (23rd December) November 2021 snowfall 85cm reported on 6 days December 2021 snowfall 307cm reported on 23 days January 2022 snowfall 325cm reported on 30 days February 2022 snowfall 184cm reported on 13 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.