Nozawa Now: Friday 1st February 2013
- Feb 1, 2013
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 2, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Nozawa Onsen region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 527cm
Weather overview Clear
Wind Light
Temperature -
Visibility
Excellent
Posted on Friday 1st February 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Nozawa Now report can be found here.
February already. How time flies.
And it's another stunner in Nozawa Onsen this morning.
Brilliant atmosphere clarity is delivering spectacular views with a totally cloudless blue sky. Highly recommended to make the effort bringing the cameras up the mountain this morning.
The groomed runs will be fast early with the cold overnight temperatures, probably grading to fun and slushy later. Off piste conditions should be quite variable; depending on sun exposure. We are expecting quite warm temperatures well into the positives, even at the top, so a classic spring like day is expected. Clear conditions will persist for the morning at least before bands of high cloud move over during the afternoon.
Yesterday was one of the clearest days of the season so far. The Sea of Japan was easily visible with even Sado Island spotted offshore from the summit of Nozawa. It's not too often that we experience such visibility.
Riding yesterday was also fun. Down low became heavy going and slushy during the afternoon thanks to warm temperatures. Up high the snow had a chalky consistency, excellent for throwing some spray. Off piste had nice snow in the shaded gullies but sun exposed areas became difficult and highly variable as the day wore on. Crowds were not an issue.
The forecast looking ahead has slightly improved since yesterday, though still not great however. From late tonight and tomorrow morning we should see rain. Weather models predict a strong high pressure system sitting SE of Japan will interact with a developing low to draw up warm SSW airflow from the tropics. Tonight temperatures will continue to increase till 3am and then remain at about 2000-2400m until mid morning tomorrow. We should then see a gradual cooling trending with rain turning to snow around Saturday evening.
Snow is possible on Sunday before a fast moving but less intense warm front passes through of Monday. Following that we should expect cool temperatures and possible snow.
Lifts operating:
All lifts operating except
Yunomine pair
Mizunashi triple
Challenge pair
Utopia pair
Higake Number 2 pair B line
Courses open:
All courses open except
Kandahar East
Official snow depths:
Yamabiko
310cm
Uenotaira
275cm
Hikage
170cm
Nagasaka
165cm
Karasawa
130cm
Nozawa Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Friday 1st February 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 527cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 34 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 60cm (on 4th January) November 2012 snowfall 3cm reported on 1 day December 2012 snowfall 213cm reported on 15 days January 2013 snowfall 311cm reported on 18 days February 2013 snowfall 0cm |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Nozawa Onsen. 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.