Niseko Now: Saturday 9th March 2013
- Mar 9, 2013
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 16, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 17cm
Snowfall at base this season 1362cm
Weather overview Snow
Wind
Light
Temperature -10C base / -13C top
Visibility Generally poor
Posted at 8:40am on Saturday 9th March 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko and welcome to the start of another weekend.
It's a snowy and windy start to the day - it's one of those days when it is difficult to put a number on it because the wind has been blowing it all around. So I'm going to have to go with how much there is outside here which is about 15-20cm. Spoken to some friends around the area just now and asked them - some say less than 5cm, one said nearly 30cm. So there you go. The safest thing to say is that we have got some fresh snow to play in this morning and you'll find places where it's drifted giving some depth and others where it's covering the what we had up until yesterday. Caution needed.
So yesterday after a sunny morning and that awful sound of melting snow from around the building, it clouded over and got darker in the afternoon and wet snow started to fall. Thankfully the snow quality we see this morning is of a better quality.
It's nice and cold this morning too. Niseko Grand Hirafu is reporting a temperature or -13C at top and -10C at base. The thermometer outside here is saying -7C as of just after 8am.
What's not as nice is the strong winds howling outside we have experienced this morning.
It's still early and not all lifts are at their opening time yet but we can definitely expect some disruption this morning. Hirafu have said that their Ace Number 2 Center Four, Ace Number 3 and 4, King Number 3 and 4 lifts are on stand-by, with the lower lifts open. At Hanazono all three lifts are on stand-by. Niseko Village reported wind of up to 30m/s at 7:40am but their three lower lifts are operating. Best to check with the resorts to get the latest.
We can expect snow and wind through today and tomorrow.
Take care out there.
Avalanche Information
Niseko base 6am: -7C, 20cm new snowfall, broken particle snow, blizzard. Moiwa 800m: blizzard, bad visibility, snowdrift growth, -12C. Annupuri peak: -16.8C. Coastal data: wind NW21m/s, 3.1m waves, pressure 1001hPa. Annupuri snow depth 1000m elevation: 400cm.
Blizzard conditions due to a strong winter weather pattern forming after the passing of the low pressure system. The avalanche risk is extreme today, regardless of elevation, due to the rapid growth of snowdrifts. From snowfall transition and observation, snowdrifts have grown 80-120cm on leeward slopes around 800m. The drifts are weakly bonded to 8th Mar layer and prone to avalanche.
Most avalanche accidents occur during a storm, however the risk continues after the wind has begun to drop. All gates will be closed. Today do not ride in the valley bottoms. Do not duck ropes and ski out of bounds. Mountain guides should make safety their highest priority while respecting Niseko Rules.
Niseko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Saturday 9th March 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 1362cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 94 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 67cm 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.