Niseko Now: Thursday 16th January 2014
- Jan 16, 2014
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 25cm
Snowfall at base this season 725cm
Posted on Thursday 16th January 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
After the somewhat disappointing 'only 15cm' in the report yesterday, we are back to 25cm since yesterday in todays report. I'm only kidding about the disappointing bit of course.
After I posted the report yesterday morning we were treated to clearer and sunny conditions again for a while.
Could the same happen again today? You know what, it actually might and there are signs of some blue sky showing through in places and the sun. It was snowing lightly earlier but has eased off now. There's a moderate wind this morning but apart from a few lifts moving at slower speeds, all is open.
Anyway, obviously it was back to snowfall in time for that new delivery to report this morning. It's a good pattern - one that I would encourage those in charge of assigning the snow deliveries to stick to more often!
So yes this morning we have yet another decent refresh on the mountain. It's interesting, many other resorts might not need the refresh as much as Niseko due to the popularity of this resort area. Popularity means that places get tracked out quicker. That also means that we perhaps suffer more than other places when conditions are dry. Good job we have that ongoing consistency. (Hope I haven't jinxed anything by saying that).
Looking ahead, the forecast is actually for calm conditions over the next few days and a break in the daily heavy snowfall. I will of course report the latest to you here every day.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -9C, 25cm crystal snowfall in 12 hours, no snowdrift development. Moiwa 800m: -11C, W8m/s, 30cm of fresh, overnight snowdrift development 80cm. Annupuri 1150m: -13C, 40cm of snowfall, notable snowdrift development. Hirafu 1000m: -11C, 20cm of fresh. Peak 1308m: -15C, NW13.1m/s. Wind forecast NW15m/s at noon. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNW15m/s, Kamui cape W11m/s, 1.6m waves, 1018hPa.
Intermittent snowfall continues under typical wintry pressure pattern. The isobars will start narrowing down as the low-pressure system shifts east and the wind will start picking up again. Wind-affected slopes are forming soft-slabs, however the snow under treeline is good. The general avalanche risk is low except in steep slopes of the Backbowl and Higashi-One cornice area. The cornces have grown big and are very unstable. Better stay away from them as they could largely collapse with a slight stimulation. Some cracks are starting to form especially in knoll terrain, these cracks are hard to see from above, please be careful not to fall in there. Gates opening is yet to be decided, please follow the ski patrols instructions. Do not duck ropes, use gates to access the out of bounds areas. The resort is always concerned about all user’s safety, and the Niseko Rules has been set for the sake of all resort users.
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Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 420cm
Base - 220cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 320cm
Base - 220cm
Annupuri:
Top - 260cm
Base - 210cm
Niseko Now 2013-2014 season |
Data as of Thursday 16th January 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 725cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 47 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (14th January) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 275cm reported on 22 days January 2014 snowfall 327cm reported on 16 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.