Niseko Now: Monday 2nd February 2015
- Feb 2, 2015
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 831cm
Posted on Monday 2nd February 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
The wind had a hold on the top areas of the mountain through the day yesterday. At Hirafu and Hanazono, the lift situation remained the same through the day (ie. top lifts closed), but over at Niseko Village their gondola did start moving around 1pm, and the Niseko Annupuri gondola also finally got moving before 2pm.
I have just a bit of snowfall to report overnight and adding to that what we got during the day yesterday I'm calling 10cm for the purposes of the report.
It looks like we are on for some mixed weather conditions today and tomorrow - cloud, light snow at times, clearings at times. I can see a bit of blue up there now actually.
Wind is unfortunately affecting top lifts at Hirafu, Hanazono and Annupuri (but not at Village looking at the latest info) at the start of the day... hopefully it will be less of an issue during the day today.
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As we are now into February I thought it would be a good time to take a look at some statistics from January 2015 and the season so far.
First of all, my observed snowfall data here in the Hirafu base area.
December 2014 (519cm) easily beat out December 2013 (275cm) in terms of snowfall, but January this year (257cm) was behind the previous January (461cm)…by a fair bit actually (204cm).
Season so far totals at the end of January:
Last season: 859cm
This season: 806cm
Over to the Japan Meteorological Agency numbers. Remember, this data is taken in Kutchan town so lower down than the resort areas - more up here in Hirafu and more still on mountain.
January 2011: 420cm
January 2012: 290cm
January 2013: 268cm
January 2014: 317cm
January 2015: 230cm
The season so far at the end of January:
10/11 season: 661cm (63%)
11/12 season: 721cm (69%)
12/13 season: 672cm (64%)
13/14 season: 674cm (71%)
14/15 season: 658cm
They actually look fairly consistent, don’t they.
See those numbers in brackets - they show the percentage of the total snowfall for that season had fallen by the end of January. So basically last season in Kutchan, by the end of January 71% of the total snowfall for the season had fallen, with 39% left to look forward to.
Doing the same calculation with my observations from here at base in Hirafu last season, the 859cm up until the end of January 2014 represented about 74% of the total observed 1163cm of snowfall for the season. So basically at this point of the season, we had another 3m or so of snowfall to look forward to here in the village area.
It goes without saying of course that we’d like more this season.
All very interesting... well, I think so, I hope you do too!
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Resort specific news as of 8:30am - subject to change during the day
Niseko Grand Hirafu:
The top King Number 3, King Number 4 and Ace Number 4 lifts on hold due to wind situation.
The early morning lift operation at Hirafu has now ended.
Niseko Hanazono:
Top Hanazono Number 3 lift on hold due to wind situation.
Niseko Village:
Looks set to be open as planned.
'Early Morning Gondola' on Saturday (7th) and Sunday (8th) for 1300 yen, Gondola open from 7:30am until 8:30am.
Niseko Annupuri:
Top Jumbo Number 4 lift on hold due to wind.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -6C, 10cm of snowfall in 12 hours, calm. Moiwa 800m: N10m/s, -10C, 15cm snowfall and snowdrift development up to 100cm in some places. Annupuri 1000m snowpack 280cm, N12m/s, 20cm of new snow on the course with development of snowdrifts. Hirafu peak ridge: -13C, 20cm snow on the course with snowdrifts development. Peak anemometer: NNW17m/s, -13.2C. Coastal data: Benkei cape N10m/s, Kamui cape NNE9m/s, 1019hPa, 2.2m waves.
Similar atmospheric pressure pattern remains with strong northerly wind above 800m. The snowfall is small, however a lot of snow got carried to the valleys by the wind. Looking at the snowfall transition and observations, 60-100cm of drifted snow has deposited in leeward slopes. 60cm thick surface slab avalanches are to be expected in 800m Mikaeri bowl area, Osawa cornice slopes. Peak gates opening is undecided, please follow the ski patrol’s decision. The wind is relatively calm this morning but is forecasted to pick up again during the day. Avalanche hazard will remain high in cornice slopes, knolls and open steep faces until the wind settles down. Many of the past avalanche accidents happened by stimulating developing snowdrift slabs during high wind weather. Better stay away from open steep slopes today. The snow in the trees is a bit heavy but in good shape. Always stay prudent when riding.
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Official resort snow depths:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 360cm
Base - 130cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 280cm
Base - 180cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 280cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Now 2014-2015 season |
Data as of Monday 2nd February 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 831cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 55 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (15th and 26th December) 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 25cm reported on 2 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.