Niseko Now: Sunday 9th March 2014
- Mar 9, 2014
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 1123cm
Posted on Sunday 9th March 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko and I have about 10cm of fresh outside my door this morning here in the Hirafu village area. It has been a run of days affected by wind of course here, and we are all hoping that today will be calmer.
This morning there is some blue sky visible amongst the remaining clouds and right now the sun is shining through my window. Snow clouds should not be far away though and more snow is due overnight.
Temps overnight were around -5C and that's what we are at now at 8:30am.
Less wind over here at Hirafu, but it does seem that there are some early issues with a few lifts over at Annupuri and Niseko Village - the Annupuri Gondola is on hold as is the Wonderland Chair at Village at the time of writing.
There's also a few lifts not moving due to 'avalanche risk' - the Jumbo 4 at Annupuri; the King 4 and Ace 4 top lifts at Niseko Grand Hirafu. From what I gather they are planned to be closed for the day.
Peak lifts closed aside, it should be a very fine day out on the snow.
---
Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -7C, 20cm of broken crystal snow in the 12 hours. Moiwa 800m: W15m/s, poor visibility, -11C, snowdrift development up to 200cm in Mikaeri area. Annupuri 1150m: W18m/s, large development of snowdrifts, -12C. Hirafu 1000m: -10C, 35cm of fresh with development of snowdrifts. Peak 1308m: W10.8m/s, -14.1C. Coastal data: cape Benkei NW15m/s, cape Kamui W9m/s, 2.7m waves, 1009hPa.
The isobars are spacing out and the storm is calming down, however strong wind is still persisting above 800m. Peak gates will be kept closed and all top lifts operation will be suspended. A large avalanche occurred in Mizuno no sawa knoll yesterday; it skimmed close to the gondola posts and reached the bottom of the valley. 2 other large avalanches occurred in Higashi-One, which knocked down trees on its way and ran past the CAT-track. Avalanche risk is still extreme in Niseko area and the surroundings. Stay away from cornice slopes and open steep faces. Stabilization of snowdrifts is delayed and chances of 150cm deep slides are still to be highly considered. The snow in the trees is good, but cracks are forming everywhere. Ride carefully.
---
Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 420cm
Base - 210cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 390cm
Base - 220cm
Annupuri:
Top - 395cm
Base - 210cm
Niseko Now 2013-2014 season |
Data as of Sunday 9th March 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 1123cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 87 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (14th January) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 275cm reported on 22 days January 2014 snowfall 461cm reported on 29 days February 2014 snowfall 178cm reported on 20 days March 2014 snowfall 86cm reported on 7 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.