Nozawa Now: Tuesday 6th May 2014
- May 6, 2014
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 8, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Nozawa Onsen region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 720cm
Posted on Tuesday 6th May 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Nozawa Now report can be found here.
Morning from Nozawa on this last day of the season.
As of 9am there's lots of cloud around but it seems to be getting less with more blue sky; the sun is appearing at times and it will perhaps be a fine day to finish things off.
It's always a day of mixed feelings is this last day. You don't want it to finish but it must. And it's a very long season - the first lift started moving on Saturday 30th November, so I make that about 5 months and 1 week.
It's time to look back on that long season.
I think people would agree in me saying that it has been a bit of an odd one in some ways and definitely not one of the 'classics'. A few bouts of mad Nozawa-like heavy snowfall here and there probably made the overall numbers seem better than the reality of the situation. That reality being that this season snowfall in Nozawa wasn't as consistent as we expect. There were just a few too many prolonged drier periods.
Of course that's not to say that there we were struggling for snow cover; we certainly weren't - it just wasn't as 'full-on' as much of the time as we would like. (We are of course guilty of having such high expectations). Still, I have had a few memorable skiing experiences this season that might make it into my Top 10.
I'm not in charge of numbers, but looking on with my own eyes I'd say that Nozawa resort has had a very good and busy season. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of international guests this season and I can only see that increasing further.
I have had some very fine nights out in the village this season mixing with locals and people from various places around the world. I'd say there has been a great atmosphere going on.
I think that most people visiting Nozawa will have enjoyed themselves and go back home with fine memories of their time in Nozawa.
From now temperatures will continue to rise and the remaining snow will quite quickly disappear from the upper slopes. It still gets pretty hot in Nozawa in summer, though you can get yourself up on the mountain for much cooler conditions. Last year the resort opened the Gondola mid July for 44 days taking people up there... there's always the roads too for a bit of a drive once the snow has gone.
This is my last Nozawa Now report of the season. Many thanks for reading. I hope that you enjoyed reading them and that they were useful as well.
The archive reports are always there so you can always go back and reflect on the season and remind yourself of how it all played out which is often fun to do when summer hits and it gets hot. The links to the archives can be found below.
The SnowJapan Nozawa Now reports will be back in autumn when it starts cooling down and thoughts turn to the 2014/2015 season.
May next season be an absolute belter of a 'classic'!
So I'll see you then, have a good summer.
Nozawa Now 2013-2014 season |
Data as of Tuesday 6th May 2014 Total snowfall at base 720cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 58 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (10th January) November 2013 snowfall 15cm reported on 2 days December 2013 snowfall 100cm reported on 11 days January 2014 snowfall 259cm reported on 19 days February 2014 snowfall 168cm reported on 14 days March 2014 snowfall 178cm reported on 12 days April 2014 snowfall 0cm May 2014 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.