Niseko Now: Monday 30th December 2013
- Dec 30, 2013
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 393cm
Posted on Monday 30th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
About another 5-10cm of snow to add this morning. I say about as the wind has been at work and been blowing it all about again.
Yesterday winds affected lift operations on the mountain, causing a few bottlenecks at times. Unfortunately it looks like it's going to be a similar story today.
Let's try to forget the wind though and talk about the snow. It was snowing for most of the day and some nice deep to be found.
Snow is forecast through the coming week, with temperatures set to drop over New Year and potentially heavy snowfall on the way. Come prepared!
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For December 2012, the JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) reported 306cm of snowfall in the town of Kutchan. This month, with two days to go including today, they are on 252cm. So just over 50cm to go before we can match last years number. (Not that it actually really matters of course!) And remember that is for Kutchan town, not up on the mountains which get more.
Looking at our own numbers from our Niseko Now reports - we have recorded 383cm of snowfall since the beginning of this season including 260cm during the month of December. These numbers coming from the Hirafu base area and can be found towards the bottom of each report. Last year for the month of December we recorded 418cm, and a total of 536cm for November-December.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -4C, 10cm of crushed crystal snow. Moiwa 800m:-7C, WSW20m/s, snowdrift development of up to 100cm. Annupuri 1150m: NW25m/s, heavy snowdrift developments, -11C. Annupuri peak 1308m: wind data n/a, -8.5C. Coastal data: Benkei cape NW19m/s, Kamui cape WSW16m/s, 2.3m waves, 1001hPa. 1500m wind forecast at noon: westerly 20m/s.
Wintry pressure pattern persists, generating strong westerly wind above 800m altitude. Extreme avalanche hazard in the Back bowl, Osawa, Higashi-One’s leeward cornice slopes and steep faces. All peak gates will be closed, please respect the ski patrol’s instructions.
Wishful thinking can be dangerous. Overconfidence and presumption lead to accidents. The reason for opening/closing the gates is not to restrict the freedom of out of bounds skiing but to ensure minimum safety of all resort users. We strongly demand everybody to respect the Niseko Rules. Do not duck ropes. The snow in the trees is in excellent condition. Be safe and have a nice day.
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Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 260cm
Base - 95cm
King Number 3 and 4; all Hanazono lifts not operating due to wind conditions.
Niseko Village:
Top - 150cm
Base - 110cm
Niseko Gondola and Wonderland Chair lifts not operating at the moment due to wind. Up to 25m/s according to the resort.
Annupuri:
Top - 125cm
Base - 130cm
Unable to confirm at time of writing.
Niseko Now 2013-2014 season |
Data as of Monday 30th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 393cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 30 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 35cm (14th, 15th and 24th December) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 270cm reported on 21 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.