Niseko Now: Saturday 6th February 2016
- Feb 6, 2016
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 15cm
Snowfall at base this season 685cm
Posted on Saturday 6th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko and the very fine start to the month continues this morning with another good 15cm of fresh snow and the good Avalanche folk reporting up to 30cm on mountain. That brings up my total observed snowfall in my last six reports to 77cm. Yey!
And, it continues to snow at the time of writing - rather heavily at the moment too. Note: the snow itself isn't heavy! It's lovely and light.
Sunshine is still looking likely for Monday. Before and after that though just expect snow to keep on falling.
It's surely going to be a busy weekend here in Niseko, and so it's great that everyone will be able to enjoy fresh conditions each morning. There's lots of visitors here now and also arriving for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Enjoy your time here everyone!
---
Yesterday was the opening day of the ever-popular Sapporo Snow Festival.
This year it's the 67th time that this event is being held and it's going to be running until 11th February at the main Odori site in downtown Sapporo, and until 18th February at the Tsudome site. It's highly recommended, and no doubt already in the plans of a fair few of you reading this.
Apparently about 2 million people visit each year! That's a lot of people.
I haven't been myself yet but hope to get to see it in the next few days. I saw on the news last night that one of the snow sculpture attractions this year is of the new Shinkansen train that is going to be opening next month (the first time a Shinkansen bullet train line comes up to Hokkaido, initially to Hakodate). Looks like they have lots of images beaming onto the ice to make it almost like a cinema experience.
---
Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 5am: -8℃, 20cm snowfall, calm. Moiwa 800m: -11℃, WSW5m/s, 30cm crystal snowfall. Mikaeri 740m: -10.2℃, light breeze, 30cm snowfall. Annupuri 1150m: W15m/s, 30cm snowfall with snowdrifts. Hirafu ridge line: -13℃, light wind, 15cm snowfall. Benkei cape: NNW14m/s, Kamui cape: WNW10m/s, 1011hPa, 1.2m waves.
The atmospheric pressure gradient is small, but snow clouds are flowing in Niseko area, dropping 30cm of crystal snowflakes above 800m elevation. According to observations and weather transition, the development of snowdrifts is minor and the avalanche risk under 1000m elevation is low. However, 60cm surface slab slides are to be considered in area above 1100m elevation where relative strong westerly wind has been blowing, namely Annupuri’s Osawa cornice slopes and the Backbowl sidewalls. A slide triggered at the top of the slope, will clean everything on its way down, including people at the bottom of the valley. The snow is in really good shape, overhead blower condition in some areas. Beware of hitting trees and falling into cracks. Uncontrolled speed range can be very dangerous; do not overestimate the performance of the skis and boards. Many cases of people entering Haru no Taki strictly off-limits area from the Mizuno no Sawa area are being reported. It is very unfortunate to have a minority always disregarding the Rules wen most people are respecting it. We hope for a safe and enjoyable day.
---
Official resort snow depths as of Saturday 6th February 2016:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 355cm
Base - 165cm
Niseko Village
Top - 300cm
Base - 170cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 310cm
Base - 180cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Saturday 6th February 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 685cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 53 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 77cm reported on 6 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.