Nozawa Now: Tuesday 22nd December 2020
- Dec 22, 2020
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Nozawa Onsen region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 212cm
Posted on Tuesday 22nd December 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Nozawa Now report can be found here.
So the snow eased off during the day yesterday and we got to actually see some of the mountain! Since yesterday the ski area reports 7-8cm of snow on their upper Yamabiko and Uenotaira areas.
This morning there is a lot of cloud around but we might just get some sun today and the clouds might clearing somewhat, with sunshine forecast for tomorrow. (I note that over in Madarao there are blue skies already).
It is chilly this morning bit going to be milder as well over the next few days - let's hope not too much.
We should be back to snow and colder conditions from Thursday onwards.
As we approach Christmas and the New Year holidays, things are quieter than usual... as you might expect, given all the circumstances. It will be interesting to see how the holiday period turns out with increasing requests from authorities for restraint (especially in Tokyo and other populated regions) as the coronavirus numbers stubbornly don't go down. I have been out a few times so far and have been pleased to see many (most?) people wearing face coverings and there are measures to try and promote the social distancing thing. If you are able to be here, let's all do what we can to try and get this thing gone.
Someone asked about the 'fresh snowfall recorded by the resort' numbers I list below. The ski resort publishes a number twice a day... usually early morning (for snowfall since the previous afternoon) and mid afternoon (for snowfall since the morning). The number in my list below is those two numbers added together. I try to do that second check each day. Apologies if I miss it some days - in which case I will specifically mention it.
Fresh snowfall recorded by the resort (since yesterday morning):
- Yamabiko (1407m): 7cm
- Uenotaira (1230m): 8cm
- Hikage (660m): 2cm
- Nagasaka (615m): 2cm
- Karasawa (563m): 0cm
Official snow depth numbers (reported by the ski area):
- Yamabiko (1407m): 200cm
- Uenotaira (1230m): 200cm
- Hikage (660m): 190cm
- Nagasaka (615m): 175cm
- Karasawa (563m): 160cm
Planned operating lifts:
- Nagasaka Gondola
- Hikage Gondola
- Yamabiko Four lift
- Yamabiko Number 2 Four lift
- Uenotaira Four
- Paradise Four
- Hikage Four lift
- Hikage Triple lift
- Nagasaka Triple lift
- Nagasaka Gondola connecting pair
- Yu Road
Most courses open: the following are NOT open:
- Kogenashi
- Kandahar
- Skyline
- Grand Prix
- Jumping
- Karasawa
- Rinkan
- Kamoshika
- Tanuki
- Usagi
Nozawa Now 2020-2021 season |
Data as of Tuesday 22nd December 2020 Total snowfall at base 212cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 9 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 56cm (17th December) November 2020 snowfall 0cm December 2020 snowfall 212cm reported on 9 days |
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.