Zao Now: Wednesday 11th March 2026
- Mar 11
- 2 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 3cm
Snowfall at base this season 446cm
Posted on Wednesday 11th March 2026 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
Morning from Zao.
The ski area this morning reporting another 10cm of fresh snow on the mountain and the trees up there looking nice and loaded.
It's largely cloudy but there's some blue sky away from the mountain, perhaps it will get clearer.
There's not much sign of potential snow on the forecasts for the coming week, perhaps a little here and there, and importantly it looks set to remain quite cold.
A moment this morning to remember and reflect the events of 15 years ago (Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster).
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Official snow depth (reported by ski area):
Yokokura area: 55cm
Uwanodai area: 80cm
Utopia area: 145cm
Chuo area: 150cm
Paradise area: 150cm
Summit area: 110cm
Lifts now closed for the season:
Kokutai pair
More information about the ski area: Zao Onsen
Zao Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Wednesday 11th March 2026 Total snowfall at base 446cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 60 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 24cm (on 12th January) November 2025 snowfall 5cm observed on 2 days December 2025 snowfall 120cm observed on 18 days January 2026 snowfall 199cm observed on 23 days February 2026 snowfall 92cm observed on 11 days March 2026 snowfall 30cm observed on 6 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.