Niseko Now: Wednesday 3rd February 2016
- Feb 3, 2016
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 18cm
Snowfall at base this season 651cm
Posted on Wednesday 3rd February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning and there's another very good layer of beautiful fresh snow to report.
18cm of it actually and the Avalanche Report mentioning numbers up to 40cm. It has really been coming down hard at times since my last report.
Wind doesn't look like it is going to be an issue at all today and so it should be an excellent morning once again.
I have observed 43cm of fresh snowfall here at base in my first three reports of February - an excellent start to the month! And there doesn't look like there'll be much of a let-up in the snow falling over the next few days and into the weekend either. If the snow eases off, more snow probably won't be too far away.
The Niseko Grand Hirafu resort upper slopes official snow depth is now up to 350cm and 160cm for base (this time last year it was on 350cm and base at 125cm).
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The Chinese New Year is coming up and while Niseko doesn't really have many 'quiet periods' during the peak months, we are entering 'peak' peak territory now with lots of people coming to celebrate here. There are so many languages to be heard being spoken here now, and it is clear that people are coming to Niseko from pretty much all corners of the world. Let's international!
I even heard some Japanese being spoken the other day! ;)
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -8℃, 20cm of fresh snow. Moiwa 800m: -11℃, W8m/s, 30cm new snow. Mikaeri 740m: -10.1℃, WSW1.1m/s, 40cm snowfall and development of snowdrifts. Annupuri 1150m: -13℃, W10m/s, 40cm snowfall. Hirafu ridgeline: -13℃, mild wind, 20cm snowfall. Benkei cape: NW14m/s, Kamui cape W7m/s, 1018hPa, 1.4m waves.
40cm average snowfall below 1000m altitude. The wind remained mile and no drastic development of snowdrifts and cornices have been observed. A moderate westerly wind, however, kept blowing above 1100m elevation and made snowdrifts develop slowly. The general avalanche risk is low, however 60cm thick surface slab avalanche is to be considered in Haru no Taki area due to sun-affected slabs. Most avalanches occurring in maritime weather areas (as in Niseko) are caused by collapse of unstable slabs during their development stage, however sun-affected slabs can also become a trigger to slide.
Many cases of people being lost are being reported. Know where you go, don’t blindly follow others. Respect the rules, they are here to protect you and protect the freedom to ride the out of bounds area. Please listen to the patrol’s instructions at the gates. All gates will open from the morning. Have you turned your beacon on?? The snow is in excellent condition.
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Official resort snow depths as of Wednesday 3rd February 2016:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 350cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Village
Top - 290cm
Base - 170cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 290cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 651cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 50 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 31cm (17th January) 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 43cm reported on 3 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.