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Zao Now: Wednesday 10th January 2018

  • Jan 10, 2018
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 34cm
Snowfall at base this season 342cm

Posted on Wednesday 10th January 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Good morning from Zao.


And this morning I have some decent snowfall to report. Heavy snowfall which is great to see, 34cm of it in fact. Seems odd that the resort isn't increasing their snow depths, but perhaps they're compensating for 'lost' snow in recent days. Whatever, lots of fresh snow and conditions should be really good this morning in contrast to yesterday - even with the reduced visibility - and hopefully covering up what were icy conditions.


The resort appears to be opening as planned. Are you brave enough? ;)


Lifts and courses:


- All lifts operating at time of report apart from Karamatsu pair (closed on weekdays).


Official snow depths:


- Summit area: 125cm

- Paradise area: 140cm

- Chuo area: 140cm

- Utopia area: 150cm

- Uwanodai area: 85cm

- Oomori area: 85cm



Zao Now 2017-2018 season

Data as of Wednesday 10th January 2018 Total snowfall at base 342cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 31 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 34cm (on 10th January) November 2017 snowfall 66cm observed on 5 days December 2017 snowfall 193cm observed on 19 days January 2018 snowfall 83cm 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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