Niseko Now: Tuesday 21st January 2014
- Jan 21, 2014
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 5cm
Snowfall at base this season 745cm
Posted on Tuesday 21st January 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
About 5cm of new snowfall to report this morning though it looks from the report below that resort areas have seen up to 15cm of fresh up there.
Less wind this morning, it feels nice and calm and while there's still cloud around there's lots of blue skies around.
It's a lovely morning.
Still, the chance of snowfall sometime later on today and also tomorrow as well.
Things have of course calmed down since that magnificent run of snowfall until last week so let's take a breather and look at some of the numbers for January so far. Remember these numbers are observed snowfall, here in the Hirafu village area.
-- 347cm of snow for January 2014
-- 60cm of that being in the last 7 days
-- 740cm total for the 2013/2014 season so far
The corresponding numbers as posted on January 21st 2013 were:
-- 370cm of snow for January 2013
-- 123cm in the last 7 days
-- 906cm total for the 2012/2013 season so far
Last season JMA recorded 268cm of snow in Kutchan town for the whole of January. So far this January, that same number is on 228cm.
Let's see how those numbers pan out come the end of the month!
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -9C, 10cm new snow in the last 12hrs. Moiwa 800m: -11C, wind SW5m/s. 15Cm new snow, no snowdrift development. Annupuri 1150m: -12C, 15cm new snow, minor snowdrift development, wind WSW8m/s. Annupuri peak1308m: -12.8C, wind WNW5.9m/s, wind predicted to be NW10m/s at noon. Hirafu 1000m: -11C, wind calm, 15cm new snow. Cape Benkei: NW7m/s, Cape Kamui: N8m/s, wave 0.6m, pressure 1011hPa.
There is no significant pressure gradient and both ocean and mountain are calm. From current observation the general avalanche risk is low. All gates are expected to be open. Please listen to the Patrols advice before going through the gates.
This daily avalanche report is issued to help protect peoples right to enter the backcountry. The mountain contains many dangers, avalanches being just one danger. Beware trees, cracks and other hidden hazards. Make careful decisions without overconfidence and don’t rely too much on your equipment. You can not be too careful.
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Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 390cm
Base - 180cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 320cm
Base - 220cm
Annupuri:
Top - 270cm
Base - 210cm
Niseko Now 2013-2014 season |
Data as of Tuesday 21st January 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 745cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 51 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 347cm reported on 20 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.