Niseko Now: Monday 3rd March 2014
- Mar 3, 2014
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 1047cm
Posted on Monday 3rd March 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Rejoice! There's 10-15cm of fresh snowfall to report this morning with the report below logging in 20cm on the mountain. Now that's more like it.
It isn't snowing just at this moment as I am writing this, just cloudy conditions but snow is forecast on and off for the day today.
The forecast is looking encouraging as well with the chance of snowfall every day through until at least the weekend. This could be good, so yes... bring it on!
With the new layer of snow this morning conditions should be improved today, though of course we could do with more to cover up the fresh-less conditions we have had underneath over the last week.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -6C, 15cm of overnight snowfall. Moiwa 800m: n/a. Annupuri 1150m: W8m/s, -10C, 15cm of fresh, light development of snowfall, snowpack 315cm. Hirafu 1000m: -9C, 20cm of fresh with light development of snowdrifts. Peak 1308m: WNW11.5m/s, -13C. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNW13m/s, Kamui cape W10m/s, 1.5m waves, 1017hPa.
Typical wintry pressure pattern (high in the west, low in the east) generated some snowfall overnight. Shallow, but good quality snow. According to snowfall transition and observations, the new snow in lee-slopes above 800m is forming soft-slabs and could potentially slide from Feb 28th layer. The snow is not fully reset in the forest; old tracks and hard snowballs are hiding under. Ski carefully. The groomers’ conditions are very good and powder condition can be safely enjoyed in un-groomed courses during the morning. Peak gates will open from the morning, please use gates and do not cross boundary ropes. The snow will pick up as the isobars narrows down, beware of sudden weather changes. Developing snowdrifts in high altitude steep slopes are very unstable and could trigger a 40cm thick avalanche. Have a nice day.
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Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 375cm
Base - 180cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 350cm
Base - 200cm
Annupuri:
Top - 360cm
Base - 200cm
Niseko Now 2013-2014 season |
Data as of Monday 3rd March 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 1047cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 81 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (14th January) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 275cm reported on 22 days January 2014 snowfall 461cm reported on 29 days February 2014 snowfall 178cm reported on 20 days March 2014 snowfall 10cm reported on 1 day |
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.