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Zao Now: Wednesday 17th February 2016

  • Feb 17, 2016
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 22cm
Snowfall at base this season 390cm

Posted on Wednesday 17th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


And a decent amount it is!


22cm of snow outside my place here this morning so that means that and more on the mountain for a very welcome decent refresh.


There's some other good news this morning - the evening 'Light Up' Ropeway service is going to be re-starting from this evening - though the Ropeway folk are being clear up front that the ice monsters did take a hit over the weekend and are once again 'starting to grow' with this new snowfall. Basically, don't expect them to be perfect.


Clearer skies due tomorrow with a return of the snow clouds at the weekend.


All planned lifts are operating this morning.

The Karamatsu pair lift does not operate on weekdays.


Official snow depths:


Utopia: 85cm



Zao Now 2015-2016 season

Data as of Wednesday 17th February 2016 Total snowfall at base 390cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 51 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 61cm observed on 12 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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