Niseko Now: Saturday 27th February 2016
- Feb 27, 2016
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 20cm
Snowfall at base this season 874cm
Posted on Saturday 27th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
The official upper snow depth of Niseko Grand Hirafu breaks through the 4m mark this morning.
But what is of more immediate interest is the 20cm of fresh snow on the ground again this morning so once again tracks should be filled in and it should be a fine morning out there. I'm writing this and taking the webcam images at 8am and I see there's already quite a few people lined up waiting for the Ace Number 2 quad. It may be a pain waiting 30+ minutes, but I'm sure it'll be worth it once again.
I just noticed that even at yesterday we had more snow during the month of February 2016 than we did during the month of December 2015. Check this out:
This season
December 2015: 244cm
January 2016: 303cm
February 2016: 266cm (up until and including today)
Last season
December 2014: 519cm
January 2015: 257cm
February 2015: 196cm
Not bad at all!
I'll do a full round up of number stuff once we get into March.
Back to today. It's keeping cold still, and snow is still falling. The report below mentions calm conditions but as we approach opening time for lifts it does look like there'll be disruptions to many of the top lifts with stronger winds up on upper areas. Details as they are at 8:30am shown below.
The forecast remains good for the coming week with continued regular snowfall. Yey!
Have a great day if you are here in Niseko and a fun weekend wherever you are.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -8℃, 20cm of crystal snow and calm morning. Moiwa 800m: -11℃, SW10m/s, 25cm snowfall. Mikaeri 700m: -10.8℃, 30cm snowfall. Annupuri 1150m: NW10m/s, 20cm snowfall. Hirafu Peak Ridge: -13℃, mild wind, 25cm snowfall. Benkei cape: NW14m/s, Kamui cape WNW11m/s, 1023hPa, wave height unknown.
The isobars are spacing out and the weather is calm. The overnight snowfall is light and good, most tracks are filled in. The stabilization of the cornices and snowdrifts that have developed in the past couple of days (westerly wind 15-20m/s) is delayed due to cold temperature and are likely to crack. Pit-checks and ski test should be done with a rope & harness. 60cm surface slab avalanche from Feb 24th layer is likely to occur in 1100m elevation leeside cornice/knolls terrain. Be extra prudent in the Backbowl sidealls, Osawa cornice and Higashi-One cornice area. Beware of falling into cracks and hitting trees.
Please follow the ski patrol’s instructions at the gates. It is severely prohibited by the Niseko Rules to duck any ropes, enter strictly off-limits areas and ignore the patrol’s orders. Lifts passes will be confiscated. Have a nice day.
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Saturday 27th February 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 874cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 69 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 |
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.