Niseko Now: Saturday 19th January 2013
- Jan 19, 2013
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 35cm
Snowfall at base this season 893cm
Weather overview Snow
Wind
Moderate
Temperature -5C base / -10C top
Visibility OK
Posted at 9:30am on Saturday 19th January 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Dear oh dear oh dear. What can I say!
We have another 30-35cm or so of snow to report from Hirafu this morning. It's almost getting silly. But silly is good, and it's silly amounts of snow we have once again this morning.
The snow continues to fall this morning. It's not as cold as yesterday and about -5C outside here now, with just a slight wind. There more moderate winds on the mountain though, with Annupuri reporting a north-westerly 17.9m/s blowing on the peak over there. Ski lifts on the mountain seem to be mostly unaffected by the wind though with seemingly only the King Number 3 at Grand Hirafu and the Hanazono Number 3 lift at Hanazono operating at reduced speeds. Top lifts all open and apparently Gates 1, 4 and 6 are scheduled to open in the afternoon.
Cloudy skies and snow falling from the skies at the moment, but visibility seems mostly decent out there.
The forecast is still saying snow to ease off and perhaps leave us with just cloudy conditions today and tomorrow. This being Niseko though and the snow is never that far away of course.
I was just looking back at the snow depth numbers reported by the ski resorts on the mountain last year. On 19th January 2012, Grand Hirafu was saying 345cm up top and 180cm at base. Today, one year on, those numbers are 430cm and 250cm. Interesting.
Please keep an eye on the Avalanche Information (posted below) for more on any dangers to expect out there. Be sure to be prepared and careful as well as enjoying yourself. It's all too easy to get caught up in the excitement of the excellent snow we are enjoying but it's important to keep the potential dangers in mind as well.
Enjoy!
Niseko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Saturday 19th January 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 893cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 57 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (10th, 11th, 19th December) November 2012 snowfall 118cm reported on 11 days December 2012 snowfall 418cm reported on 27 days January 2013 snowfall 357cm reported on 19 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.