Niseko Now: Saturday 26th March 2016
- Mar 26, 2016
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 983cm
Posted on Saturday 26th March 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko.
There's just about enough of a dusting for me to feel justified in awarding 1cm to the reports this morning.
It's nice and sunny with lots of blue sky and some interesting looking clouds around. A fine start to the morning.
Looks like we should be getting quite a lot of sun over the next few days at least. Today a high of around 3-4C is forecast, and slightly warmer conditions for tomorrow with lots more sunshine.
I hope there might be some Easter bunnies out on the slopes giving out chocolate eggs (though perhaps not!).
I'll just be happy to see the snow bunnies! :)
I just took a look back at my report from this day last year and noticed that Niseko Grand Hirafu had an official snow depth (upper) of 440cm, and today it is on 350cm. Lower level official numbers were pretty much the same. Interesting. It will be interesting to see how it all lasts this season.
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Today sees that new Hokkaido Shinkansen train line open. Hurray! Not that I'm going to be using it...
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -1℃, no snowfall. Moiwa 838m: -4.1℃, E5m/s, Annupuri 1000m snowpack 310cm. Hirafu peak ridge: -7℃, some sprinkles without snowdrift. Benkei cape: N6m/s, Kamui cape: no wind, 1018hPa, 0.9m waves.
The wind and snowfall is minimal under the moving high-pressure system. Surface slab avalanche hazard is low, however shallow but wide area slides are to be expected in steep slopes and knolls. Better keep spacing between each skiers. Heavy snowfall was observed in Yoichi-Dake and mountains surrounding Sapporo, however almost none in Niseko. The temperature is forecasted to rise and snow-blocks from cracks may fall. Full depth avalanches may also occur. Better avoid the valley bottoms. Most accidents can be avoided by using precautions. All gates are scheduled to open from the morning. There are Rules for out of bounds riding to respect in Niseko. You may have your lift pass confiscated if you duck a rope, even if you’re not familiar with the Rules. It is your responsibility to know the Rules and we strongly demand all guests to follow them. The snow is not too bad. Have a nice day.
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Official resort snow depths as of Saturday 26th March 2016:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 350cm
Base - 120cm
Niseko Village
Top - 340cm
Base - 130cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 350cm
Base - 130cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Saturday 26th March 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 983cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 83 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 38cm (17th February) November 2015 snowfall 61cm reported on 4 days December 2015 snowfall 244cm reported on 17 days January 2016 snowfall 303cm reported on 26 days February 2016 snowfall 266cm reported on 22 days March 2016 snowfall 109cm reported on 14 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.