Niseko Now: Saturday 4th March 2017
- Mar 4, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 3, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 604cm
Posted on Saturday 4th March 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Just a slight snowfall to report this morning along with colder conditions as well which is good.
There is just about enough for me to very kindly award 1cm to the report this morning. Within my own strict self-imposed guidelines, I'm feeling generous!
Generally cloudy skies.
Temperatures should be keeping quite cold through the coming week with just a bit of snow on the forecast at times, perhaps the best chance of something being around Tuesday.
When we get into March and on the way to 'spring' (I still don't like using that word yet, it's too early!), it is often the case that there'll be none or little snow down here at base but more higher up on the mountain. That seemed to be the case yesterday; I really enjoyed it out there and was happy to find some fresh snow. I also feel that once we get into this part of the season it is best to expect 'spring' rather than mid-winter conditions -- and then potentially be positively surprised when things surpass that. They often can. It's a cunning plan, and actually it works. For me, anyway.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base: -6℃, light snowfall. Moiwa800m: -7.9℃, WSW9m/s, 10cm snowdrifts. Annupuri1150m: -13℃, W6m/s, 10cm snowfall, 30cm snowdrifts, 220cm snowpack at 1000m elevation. Hirafu1250m: -12℃, light snowfall with snowdrift developments. Sea of Japan Kamui cape lighthouse: W7m/s, 1012hPa, 2.1m waves.
After the warm air inflow on March 2nd, a cold air mass rolled in and made a layer of ice and hoar (March 3-4th), making 40°slopes prone to avalanches in the current conditions. The newly formed snowdrift slabs at 800m elevation seemed relatively stable during this morning’s impact test, however unstable activities are still to be highly expected in leeward slopes between 750 and 1100m elevation. Do not enter south facing strictly off-limits areas. Gates are scheduled to open. Listen to the ski patrol’s instructions. Beware of falling into cracks, collisions and sudden weather changes.
Many of the accidents occur during and just after storms. There are many things we can all learn from last week’s accident. Think about it and remember how and in what situations it all happened.
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Official resort snow depths as of Saturday 4th March 2017:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 330cm
Base - 130cm
Niseko Village
Top - 315cm
Base - 140cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 315cm
Base - 140cm
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Night skiing is planned until Monday 20th March 2017 at the Niseko Annupuri, Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko Village resort areas. There is no nighta in the Hanazono area.
Niseko Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Saturday 4th March 2017 Total snowfall at base so far 604cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 74 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 36cm (16th December) November 2016 snowfall 110cm reported on 14 days December 2016 snowfall 181cm reported on 22 days January 2017 snowfall 152cm reported on 18 days February 2017 snowfall 160cm reported on 19 days March 2017 snowfall 1cm 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.