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Zao Now: Thursday 13th December 2018

  • Dec 13, 2018
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 43cm

Posted on Thursday 13th December 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Snow clouds are over us and light snow is falling. It's good that snow is falling of course and there's more on the forecast, but can someone flip the switch to heavy snow setting please?


The resort itself is reporting 5cm of fresh and pretty poor visibility on the upper Chuo area that is open.


So limited but we are hopeful for decent snow over the coming days.


Zao will open more as soon as there is enough snow.


Lifts and course info:


- Chuo Number 1

- Mikaeri pair


- Zao Ropeway

- Zao Chuo Ropeway

- Sky Cable


- Chuo course part open


Official snow depths (as reported by resort):


- Summit area: 5cm (Zao folk, update this info please!)

- Paradise area: 25cm

- Chuo area: 40cm

- Utopia area: 30cm

- Uwanodai area: 20cm

- Oomori area: 20cm



Zao Now 2018-2019 season

Data as of Thursday 13th December 2018 Total snowfall at base 43cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 9 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 16cm (on 9th December) November 2018 snowfall 7cm observed on 3 days December 2018 snowfall 36cm 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.


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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