Yuzawa Now: Sunday 17th May 2026
- May 17
- 6 min read
Updated: 11 hours ago
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 917cm
Posted on Sunday 17th May 2026 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Hello from Yuzawa on this last day of the season at Kagura ski area.
It feels quite remarkable that Kagura has been able to (just about) remain open until 17th May this year. Along with the generally cooler-than-usual spring, perhaps that just goes to show how much snow they get up there. Just how great would it be if they let us know how much snowfall they got every morning? Wishful thinking aside, well done to them and indeed all the other ski areas in the area, many of which have already been closed for six weeks.
It has been very warm and sunny this weekend, with temperatures reaching nearly 26C in town yesterday and similar expected today. At 8:30am this morning it is already approaching 20C.
After the spring that we have had, how about a cooler-than-normal summer?! That would be wonderful, but that is probably just more wishful thinking on my part. We'll probably be melting before too long!
That's it for the 2025-2026 season. Yuzawa Now and other reports will be back in November.
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A look back at the Yuzawa 2025-2026 season
Snowfall statistics for the season:
Total snowfall over the season: 917cm
Number of days snowfall observed at base: 52 days
Most observed snowfall in 1 day: 68cm on 25th January 2026
November 2025 snowfall: 12cm (reported on 1 day)
December 2025 snowfall: 144cm (reported on 9 days)
January 2026 snowfall: 595cm (reported on 23 days)
February 2026 snowfall: 132cm (reported on 13 days)
March 2026 snowfall: 34cm (reported on 6 days)
Last snowfall reported in town: 11th March
Total snowfall in each season since 2012:
2025-2026 season: 917cm
2024-2025 season: 1253cm
2023-2024 season: 713cm
2022-2023 season: 795cm
2021-2022 season: 1338cm
2020-2021 season: 1109cm
2019-2020 season: 425cm
2018-2019 season: 1042cm
2017-2018 season: 857cm
2016-2017 season: 954cm
2015-2016 season: 424cm
2014-2015 season: 1303cm
2013-2014 season: 833cm
2012-2013 season: 762cm
The total snowfall number of 917cm looks pretty good, but let's take a closer look at how the season unfolded.
By Christmas Day, Yuzawa Now had only been able to report 99cm of snowfall at base, which is less than half of what we had on the same day in 2024 and below average.
It was a slow start to the season.
Then along came January 2025, a month that treated us to a huge 595cm of snowfall.
595cm is more snowfall in one month than in any other month since we started recording Yuzawa Now data in 2012. Snowfall was reported on 23 days in the month, with over 50cm of fresh snow on five days. The first part and last third of the month were particularly consistent, making for some very fine conditions between the heavy snowfall.
Impressive!
February started off fairly well, too, in terms of snowfall. However, the regularity and volume of snowfall decreased noticeably by the middle of the month. In the second half of February, we were already starting to talk about spring, with some unseasonably warm conditions alongside other unfriendly weather, namely southerly winds and rain.
Thankfully, temperatures generally remained quite low for much of March, which really helped ski areas at town level to retain enough snow to remain open largely as planned. At one point, it really felt like some wouldn't make it to the end of March.
The higher elevation GALA Yuzawa, which had hoped to remain open until 6th May, had to close a few weeks early, despite its best snow-moving efforts to keep the main ski runs open. There just wasn't a deep enough base.
One fairly telling piece of data is that since the 14th February, only slightly over 50cm of snowfall was reported in town, with none at all in the last week of February. Those numbers are really low.
With the slow start, 65% of the season's total snowfall falling in January, and the early signs of spring, it has felt like an uneven season; definitely not one where we actually got as much as 917cm. I was genuinely surprised when I noticed that total - it doesn't seem to fit in with the reality of living the season.
I think that demonstrates that there's so much more to consider beyond just the raw snowfall data. Timing, regularity and consistency of snowfall, weather conditions, mid-winter rain and strong winds. They can all shape a season quite dramatically.
Of course, this is all nerdy talk and most people, while wanting great conditions, probably don't obsess on the these details as we do here at SnowJapan!
Yuzawa continues to attract an increasing number of overseas 'inbound' visitors. While I do not have any relevant data at hand, I am confident in guessing those visitor numbers rose once again this last season. Hopefully, they enjoyed their time here and return home with positive experiences.
Here are the visitor numbers for ski areas in Yuzawa during the 2025-2026 season, from November 2025 until the end of March 2026*, as reported by the town:
Naeba: 351,190
Iwappara: 290,500
GALA Yuzawa: 283,100
Kandatsu Snow Resort: 221,720
Kagura: 208,290
Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort: 159,810
NASPA Ski Garden: 100,740
Yuzawa Kogen: 86,910
Nakazato Snow Wood: 64,060
Yuzawa Park: 34,610
TOTAL: 1,800,930
* When the updated and final numbers are in, we’ll update the above data and compare them with last year.
A perfect season would be heavy snowfall and a good snow base established in December, then regular snowfall deep into March. A generous sprinkling of fine and sunny days in between the storms, but remaining cold even when the sun is out. And no rain. On reflection, that all sounds a bit like what we used to consider regular/normal.
I hope 2026-2027 might bring us something like that.
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A message from SnowJapan
This message is being published on each of our daily report pages and is not specific to Yuzawa
The season is now over for all but a few ski areas, and the last of our daily reporting for 2025-2026 has been posted. I hope that our independent reporting has once again helped many people this past ski season. With our large and wide-reaching readership from every part of the world, we feel a real sense of responsibility for the information we publish.
A sincere thank you to the wonderful reporters who contribute to our daily reporting.
It has been another long season with more unique stories from around the country. A general Japan season wrap-up seems inappropriate, given the vast differences across the country's many mountainous regions. Still, I think it's fair to say that in most regions, 2025-2026 was not a top-tier classic for Japan in terms of snowfall.
But... that is comparing Japan with Japan – and, as we all know, that is a very high bar!
All being well, later this year, a from-the-ground-up new version of SnowJapan will replace the current site (which has been online since February 2022).
Work started on the new project over a year ago. I don't want to reveal details just yet, as there is still a lot of work to do and some things may change. The main goal of this renewal is to simplify and refine the site, keep things 'light', with a focus on improving core content and usability. It's a lot of work, but with all the foundations now largely in place, it is exciting to start seeing it all come together. Hopefully, the end result will work out as imagined.
It might be a shock to the system when the changeover happens, but not to worry - the basic concept and values that have guided SnowJapan since 1999 are still very much firmly in place.
The new site is expected to be ready by November 2026, and more information will be shared in late summer.
Yuzawa Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Sunday 17th May 2026 Total snowfall at base so far 917cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 52 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 68cm (on 25th January) November 2025 snowfall 12cm reported on 1 day December 2025 snowfall 144cm reported on 9 days January 2026 snowfall 595cm reported on 23 days February 2026 snowfall 132cm reported on 13 days March 2026 snowfall 34cm reported on 6 days April 2026 snowfall 0cm May 2026 snowfall 0cm |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Yuzawa. 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.