Zao Now: Saturday 19th December 2020
- Dec 19, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 7, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 9cm
Snowfall at base this season 82cm
Posted on Saturday 19th December 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
Although it started snowing again yesterday at around 14:00, overall disappointing considering that the forecast said "heavy" - boo!
At least it is still coming down, and for the next week, albeit lightly and on and off.
The good news is that nearly all the slopes are open - not all the lifts - but at least the whole resort is now open. (Do note that some of the lifts are taking a while to open as the snow and ice build-up is cleared.)
Viz is off and on but not dense, with wind also coming and going. Due to the slopes having been groomed last night, there is not a whole lot of powder around but still available. Still, nice and soft so nothing to complain about and really nice if you're not a powder-hound. Not as busy as I expected but probably because people are still coming in, it being a Saturday morning.
Lifts operating:
- Onsen Number 1 pair
- Onsen Number 2 quad
- Sunrise pair A
- Nakamori Number 1 triple
- Mikaeri pair
- Chuo Number 1 pair
- Chuo Number 2 pair
- Katakai triple
- Diamond Number 2 pair
- Paradise pair AB
- Omori quad
- Yokokura Number 1 pair A
- Astraea Number 1 pair
- Astraea Number 2 pair
- Utopia Number 2 pair
- Astraea Number 3 pair
- Kurohime quad
- Zao Ropeway (both sections)
- Zao Chuo Ropeway
- Sky Cable
All areas open apart from:
- Parts of the Uwanadai area
- Parts of the Paradise area
Official snow depths (as reported by the ski area):
- Summit area: 55cm
- Paradise area: 70cm
- Chuo area: 95cm
- Utopia area: 80cm
- Uwanodai area: 55cm
- Omori area: 60cm
- Kurohime: 70cm
Zao Now 2020-2021 season |
Data as of Saturday 19th December 2020 Total snowfall at base 82cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 7 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 22cm (on 17th December) November 2020 snowfall 0cm December 2020 snowfall 82cm observed on 7 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.