Niseko Now: Wednesday 25th March 2015
- Mar 25, 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 1141cm
Posted on Wednesday 25th March 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Wind messed around with us yesterday, be off with it!, and afraid it may might again today.
OK bad news out of the way.
You want the good news?
There's lots of fresh snow. Might not be able to get up to it using the wind-affected lifts again, but it's there for sure.
Once they do open though it should be some excellent late March conditions waiting to be ridden.
No more snow is likely to be falling after today through into early next week at least so we want as much as possible.
---
Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -2C, 20cm of humid snowfall in the last 12 hours. Moiwa data n/a. Annupuri 1000m snowpack 345cm. Hirafu1000m -7C, heavy wind. Peak data: N23.3m/s, -7.3C. Coastal data: Benkei cape ENE11m/s, Kamui cape ENE5m/s, 1019hPa, 3.3m.
Isobars are close together, generating heavy wind above 800m. Snowdrifts are developing in leeward slopes and gullies. Looking at the snowfall and various other data, the avalanche risk is high today, especially in alpine steep slopes. Peak gates will be closed. Do not duck ropes to step out of bounds. Wind and snow will clam down soon, but the hazards will remain high for a while. Most avalanche accidents are caused by snowdrift slabs sliding during or just after storms. Remember this term as a common sense and most accidents can be avoided. Climax (ground) avalanche risk from 1100m area is also rising. Stay away from valley bottoms. The snow along the course and in the trees is in good shape. Beware of hidden cracks and holes and they might have been covered and hard to notice from above. Have a nice day.
---
Official resort snow depths:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 440cm
Base - 130cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 330cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 340cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Now 2014-2015 season |
Data as of Wednesday 25th March 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 1141cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 82 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 139cm reported on 11 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.