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Zao Now: Friday 10th January 2014

  • Jan 10, 2014
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 2, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 242cm

Posted on Friday 10th January 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


I am guessing that this morning is the coldest of the season so far. Extremely cold outside, and when I got up earlier the thermometer was telling me it was -12 degrees.


Visibility is ok this morning and it's just cloudy at the moment with some light snow falling lazily earlier on. Still, forecast is for continued snowfall through into early next week.


Official snow depth on Utopia areas is now up to 2m. I reckon there's a fair bit more than that, but their numbers are probably for the runs now the sides and uncompacted snow areas.


It's a 3 day weekend coming up as Monday is a holiday here in Japan. Traditionally it's one of the busiest weekends of the snow season, so keep that in mind!


Official snow depths:

Utopia: 200cm

Chuo: 160cm

Paradise: 195cm

Uwanodai: 130cm


Zao Now 2013-2014 season

Data as of Friday 10th January 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 242cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 26 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (on 2nd January) November 2013 snowfall 12cm observed on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 179cm observed on 18 days January 2014 snowfall 51cm observed on 7 days




All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao 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.


SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for.



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