Niseko Now: Saturday 9th February 2013
- Feb 9, 2013
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 35cm
Snowfall at base this season 1066cm
Weather overview Cloudy, light snow
Wind
Varied
Temperature -6C base / -11C top
Visibility Fair
Posted at 8:02am on Saturday 9th February 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Another 30-40cm of new snowfall this morning in Niseko in the base village area to report, so we can expect more than that up on the slopes. I like it when we get back to reporting big numbers and it was great to see the snow really coming down from last night.
Grand Hirafu now up to 440cm official snow depth.
There's less wind as well this morning and so while it is still early I would expect the lifts to be moving as normal. It's a good job because there'll be plenty of people out there. As I mentioned yesterday, today is the first day of a three day long weekend here in Japan as Monday is National Foundation Day. So there should be lots of Japanese people enjoying the long weekend and also visitors enjoying the Chinese New Year. Race you to the lifts!
Currently it is cloudy with light snow falling and about -6 degrees. Snow might ease later on and light snow showers forecast for tomorrow, hopefully remaining calm.
It should be a very good one. Very easy to get excited on a day like today but keep in mind the potential dangers out there and I hope you can enjoy it. Take care!
Avalanche Information
Niseko base 6am: -6C, 30cm of broken particles snow and graupels with development of snowdrifts. Moiwa 800m: heady snowdrift development, unstable, -10C. Annupuri peak: NW15.8m/s, -14.3C. Coastal data: NW13m/s, 2.3m waves and 1013hPa.
24hours of storm (20m/s wind and heavy snowfall) made cornices and heavily wind-affected snowdrifts develop drastically in leeward slopes. The conditions are extremely unstable and the avalanche risk is very high in the Niseko range and the surrounding peaks. All open steep slopes, leeward knolls and cornice slopes above treeline are likely to slide with 80+cm thickness. The weather is calming down however the wind is still blowing relatively strong as the isobars spacing is still tight, delaying the stabilization process.
Gate 2 & 3 will be closed, other gates will also be kept closed at least during the morning. Please respect the ski patrol’s instructions. Most avalanche accidents occur during or just after storms. The snow in the trees is good but heavy and easy to loose control. Better not count too much on the performance of the gears, be reasonable and think safety first. Beware of over-speeding, hitting trees, falling into cracks and creeks. The mountain conditions will turn better soon.
Niseko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Saturday 9th February 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 1066cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 70 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 87cm 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.