Niseko Now: Wednesday 3rd May 2023
- May 3, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 8, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 1006cm
Posted on Wednesday 3rd May 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Looking out of the window it seems like it is a fine day. There's a fair amount of cloud in some directions, but lots of blue sky and sunshine too. Felt rather warm and a bit windy when I was just out a little while ago. Hopefully tomorrow will be fine too, though forecasts are showing the chance of some rain around Saturday.
Today is the last day of the season at Niseko Annupuri ski area.
Niseko Grand Hirafu ski area appears intent on keeping open until the original planned closing date (Sunday), the last day of the Golden Week holidays.
For many in Japan, today is the first of five consecutive holidays. Today is Constitution Day (Kenpo kinenbi), tomorrow is Greenery Day (Midori no hi) and Friday is Children's Day (Kodomo no hi). And then it is the weekend, of course.
By the way, sorry for the late report today. The reason? I totally overslept. Until 11:30am (!) That is very unlike me and I was quite shocked when I saw the clock. Perhaps by body is telling me that it is nearly time for hibernation! Just a handful of reports to go before I get to that point...
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Ski area information for Wednesday 3rd May 2023
The below snow depth and snowfall numbers are manually checked each morning from official sources.
Lift information is the planned operations for the day, weather permitting.
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
These runs remain available
- Detour for beginners
- Shirakaba
- Center
- Large
- Rinkan
- Jumbo (upper only)
- Dynamic
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 155cm
- Base: 0cm
Lifts:
- Hirafu Gondola (8:30am-3:45pm, last one down at 4:30pm)
- King Number 3 quad (8:40am-4:00pm)
- King Number 4 (8:50am-3:45pm)
Planned season:
- Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu plans to be open until Sunday 7th May 2023
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Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
These runs remain available:
- Utopia
- Shirakaba
- Paradise
- Family
- Junior
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 120cm
- Base: 0cm
Lifts:
- Annupuri Gondola (8:50am-3:45pm)
- Jumbo Number 1 quad (9:00am-4:00pm)
Planned season:
- Niseko Annupuri Kokusai plans to be open until today
Niseko Now 2022-2023 season |
Data as of Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 1006cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 90 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 24cm (27th & 28th January, 6th February) November 2022 snowfall 17cm reported on 5 days December 2022 snowfall 336cm reported on 27 days January 2023 snowfall 332cm reported on 27 days February 2023 snowfall 289cm reported on 25 days March 2023 snowfall 32cm reported on 6 days April 2023 snowfall 0cm May 2023 snowfall 0cm |
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.