Niseko Now: Thursday 7th March 2013
- Mar 7, 2013
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 1345cm
Weather overview Cloud
Wind
Light
Temperature -2C base / -6C top
Visibility Fair
Posted at 9:19am on Thursday 7th March 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
No new snowfall to report since yesterday from the Niseko area.
A lovely clear early morning here, but since then it has clouded over and it's becoming much greyer. Strong winds were expected again later today, but have been whipping up something more in the last hour or so. I can see the flags outside a restaurant nearby blowing about furiously right at the moment. Wind speeds up to 14m/s noted by the resorts and the top lifts at each resort area are on hold. I've said it before but strong winds have definitely been one of talking points of this season here in Niseko - apart from the often totally awesome snow conditions of course.
Resorts are posting temperatures of around -2C around base, but here in the Hirafu village area it is right now around +1C. It might well get as warm as around +5C today and there's a good chance there will be..... rain. Yes, the R word.
There's good news though as well. From tomorrow looks like we should see temperatures drop once again and be on the receiving end of another fresh delivery of snow with hopefully more also over the weekend. Might even get a decent amount.
Fingers crossed.
Avalanche Information
Niseko base 6am: -6C, no new snowfall, clear weather. Moiwa 800m: no snowdrift development, -6C. Annupuri peak: -9.3C. Coastal data: wind SSE6m/s, 0.8m waves, pressure 1012hPa. At Annupuri peak the wind is expected to be W20m/s by 12pm. Currently Annupuri snow depth is 400cm at 1000m elevation.
Peak gate opening times are yet to be determined due to a strong westerly wind above 1000m. There has been no new snowfall overnight, however yesterday's strong wind has created snowdrifts leeward of knolls above 800m elevation. These will easily collapse with slight stimulation, please be careful. Similar conditions have caused an accident in Moiwa bowl in the past.
On steep wind slopes above 1000m a hard slab has been developing from strong wind. A fall could trigger a fracture, causing an avalanche, please take care. An avalanche will occur anytime if the conditions are right regardless of how much snowfall there has been.
The mountain is currently changing from winter to spring conditions. Temperatures will rise with the approaching low pressure this afternoon, causing some melt. The snow in the trees has not been reset, but conditions are not bad. Ducking ropes to enter prohibited areas is forbidden in Niseko. Have a safe day.
Niseko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Thursday 7th March 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 1345cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 93 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (27th January) November 2012 snowfall 118cm reported on 11 days December 2012 snowfall 418cm reported on 27 days January 2013 snowfall 443cm reported on 26 days February 2013 snowfall 316cm reported on 24 days March 2013 snowfall 50cm reported on 5 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.