Shiga Kogen Now: Sunday 1st May 2016
- May 1, 2016
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 28, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Shiga Kogen region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 568cm
Posted on Sunday 1st May 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Shiga Kogen Now report can be found here.
1st May 2016...
Today is the last day of the 2015-2016 season (with just one short run remaining open at Kumanoyu today).
Looking back over my archived Shiga Kogen Now reports here on SnowJapan, let's take a look at the closing dates for all resorts in Shiga Kogen over recent years:
14/15 season: 17th May
13/14 season: 25th May
12/13 season: 26th May
11/12 season: 27th May
10/11 season: 29th May
09/10 season: 30th May
So as you can see, this season has ended considerably earlier than usual. And it's actually interesting - and slightly worrying - to see that the last day of the season has also been getting progressively 'earlier' each season in recent years. The timing of the days+dates may well have something to do with that, but still...
For the season that has just finished, it's no real surprise with the weather and snowfall that we experienced this time round.
Resorts themselves are using phrases such as 例年に無い積雪不足 (snow shortages not experienced in previous seasons).
I was reading through the season end reports on Nozawa Now and Madarao Now, and it's a fairly similar story here.
This season the consistency that we are used to just wasn't there for the most part and there were more than a few times when we had to go back to discussing the 'odd weather' in these reports. Please be sure to look back over the season reports to get a clear picture of how it all happened. And as the other reports have mentioned, make sure to read the reports from previous seasons as well.
Still, it may not have been anything like a classic season but I enjoyed some very fine days out there on the snow, as did many people who I met visiting from overseas.
But here's to a return to more consistency and huge amounts of regular snowfall in 16/17!
Shiga Kogen is of course a fine place to visit throughout the year - especially the ability to escape the heat and humidity of the valleys and cities - and now that the snow is not blocking the roads you can approach the region from Gunma as well as from the Nagano side.
I hope you have a good few months, thanks for reading and I'll see you back here on Shiga Kogen Now before winter arrives.
Shiga Kogen Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Sunday 1st May 2016 Total snowfall at base 568cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 65 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (10th February) November 2015 snowfall 7cm reported on 3 days December 2015 snowfall 105cm reported on 17 days January 2016 snowfall 204cm reported on 18 days February 2016 snowfall 147cm reported on 15 days March 2016 snowfall 97cm reported on 11 days April 2016 snowfall 8cm reported on 1 day May 2016 snowfall 0cm |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Shiga Kogen. 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.