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Zao Now: Thursday 17th December 2015

  • Dec 17, 2015
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 67cm

Posted on Thursday 17th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


2cm of snow on the ground as snow has started falling from the skies this morning.


The clouds are thick with low visibility and hardly any wind. Most importantly, it is snowing... and we are all hoping that it will be snowing most of the time through until Saturday.


Let's see how much we get.


Lifts that are currently operating (subject to change):


- Sky Cable (gondola)

- Zao Chuo Ropeway

- Zao Ropeway

- Chuo Number 1 pair AB

- Utopia Number 2 pair


Official snow depths:


Utopia: 15cm

Chuo: 25cm

Paradise: -cm

Uwanodai: 5cm



Zao Now 2015-2016 season

Data as of Thursday 17th December 2015 Total snowfall at base 67cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 6 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 20cm (on 4th and 5th December) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 45cm observed on 4 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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