Zao Now: Monday 18th December 2017
- Dec 18, 2017
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 5, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 159cm
Posted on Monday 18th December 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
Morning from Zao.
A very cold morning. And while there is cloud on some areas of the mountain down here at base there's also some blue sky. Looks like it might be mixed weather conditions this morning.
Not much snow really since my last report and I notice that just the Uwanodai area is adding 5cm of snow to the official snow depth data while the others remain the same. Perhaps more snow coming tomorrow but I wouldn't expect anything major over the coming few days.
Good to see the Omori quad lift now operating as well. We're still not 'deep' and could do with some prolonged snowfall to build on the base, but most areas of Zao Onsen are now at least part open.
Operating lifts:
- Most lifts and areas now at least part open
Official snow depths:
- Summit area: 65cm
- Paradise area: 70cm
- Chuo area: 70cm
- Utopia area: 80cm
- Uwanodai area: 50cm
- Oomori area: 50cm
Zao Now 2017-2018 season |
Data as of Monday 18th December 2017 Total snowfall at base 159cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 17 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 32cm (on 25th November) November 2017 snowfall 66cm observed on 5 days December 2017 snowfall 93cm 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.