Zao Now: Monday 18th January 2016
- Jan 18, 2016
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 4, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 26cm
Snowfall at base this season 214cm
Posted on Monday 18th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
Morning from Zao.
And heavy snow it is!
Strong winds mean that there's less/more in different places but a few measurements in places round the back of my place tell me 26cm is a fair representation of what has fallen since my last report. That's more like it, isn't it?
It is a cold, windy and snowy morning here in Zao but having to shovel snow is not stopping people from smiling as this kind of snow is exactly what we need. A few days of it and things should be full on. Today does look like it might bring the most snow during this storm but snow clouds are due over the mountain for at least the next few days. It might remain windy as well.
At the time of writing all of the Ropeways are stopped and all of the lifts - except it would appear the Onsen Number 1, 2 and 3 lifts.
Whiteout conditions out there. Time for a good soak in an onsen I think.
More... more... more... please!
All lifts apart from three Onsen lifts are closed as of 9am.
Official snow depths:
Utopia: 70cm
Chuo: 90cm
Paradise: 70cm
Uwanodai: 45cm
Uwanodai: 40cm
Zao Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Monday 18th January 2016 Total snowfall at base 214cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 28 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (on 18th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 96cm observed on 14 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.