Niseko Now: Saturday 27th December 2014
- Dec 27, 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 509cm
Posted on Saturday 27th December 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
The snow continued once again through the day yesterday with a few people asking me 'does it ever stop'?
It has actually stopped this morning after continuing yesterday. Not much extra overnight but leaving us with another 25-30cm or so since my report yesterday morning. Isn't it just great when we can report that much snow so often. Let's not get complacent though, even Niseko can go through dry periods. Happily we don't seem to be up for one of them at the moment.
OK so back to this morning. Temperatures remain low this morning. It's fairly calm here in the village area, though perhaps some gusty winds up on the mountain. Resorts look likely to be open as planned this morning though... although looks like there's a few lifts running at reduced speed and the top Niseko Village Wonderland lift delayed?
There's a bit of blue sky opening up now and the sun even peeking through just now in places. Oh no, hold on, hidden again by cloud.... so, changeable conditions as you can see early this morning.
Clearing skies expected today and tomorrow, along with a slightly milder spell tomorrow and into early next week before we get back to more snow.
Enjoy the weekend.
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Resort specific news at time of writing - subject to change during the day
Niseko Grand Hirafu:
Looks set to be open as planned, top lift
Niseko Hanazono:
Looks set to be open as planned, though top lift operating at reduced speed.
Niseko Village:
Looks set to be open as planned. Delayed opening for top Wonderland lift?
Niseko Annupuri:
Looks set to be open as planned.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Moiwa base: -7C, 20cm of fresh snow and calm morning. Moiwa 800m: -10C, NW10m/s, 30cm snowfall with moderate snowdrift development and good visibility. Annupuri 1150m: -11C, W10m/s with snowdrifts. Hirafu 1000m: -12C, 20cm of new snow in 12 hours. Coastal data: Benkei cape WNW9m/s, Kamui cape WSW9m/s, 1020hPa and 1.2m waves.
The atmospheric pressure gradient is small and the mountain is calm. Cornices and snowdrifts are slowly developing. Gate 4 (Fujiwara) is scheduled to open at a lower elevation. Beware; the avalanche risk still remains high in the Higashi-One (East ridge) cornice area due to heavy snowfall in a short period of time. Gate 6 & 10 will open from the morning. Listen to the ski patrol’s instructions at the gates before stepping out of bounds. The creeks at the bottom of the valleys aren’t fully buried yet; be careful not to fall. The snow in the treeruns is in great condition. Have a nice day.
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Official snow depth numbers and any notes at time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 310cm
Base - 170cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 200cm
Base - 140cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 185cm
Base - 150cm
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Lifts open for night skiing (planned):
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Ace Family Pair lift, Ace Number 2 Center Four lift, Hirafu Gondola, Holiday Number 1 Pair lift
(There is no night skiing at the Hanazono area)
Niseko Village
Community Chair and Banzai Chair
Niseko Annupuri
Jumbo Number 1 Quad
Niseko Now 2014-2015 season |
Data as of Saturday 27th December 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 509cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 29 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (15th and 26th December) November 2014 snowfall 30cm reported on 5 days December 2014 snowfall 479cm reported on 24 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.