Zao Now: Tuesday 19th January 2016
- Jan 19, 2016
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 17
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 46cm
Snowfall at base this season 260cm
Posted on Tuesday 19th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
There's absolutely loads of snow to report this morning.
Yesterday was blizzard conditions though lifts managed to open; this morning it's still pretty wild out there but more lifts moving from the start of the day.
Whiteout and deep snow conditions. How long did it take me to be able to say something like that this season?!
Wind has been blowing it around but the average in the space behind where I live gives me 46cm to report. Yes, forty six cm! Some of the official snow depth numbers have increased, but the official snow depth for Paradise at 70cm is... silly.
Never mind, with so much snow falling here in the village areas it should be an awesome morning up there if you can brave the conditions and just like playing in fresh. Some may be more tempted to sit it out again and wait for the storm to pass. With all this new snowfall, poor visibility and excitement due to the new snowfall, extra care is required. We don't want to be hearing news of lost skiers and boarders on the evening news.
It looks like the snow should continue coming down today and basically through the weekend, though perhaps ease off somewhat after today.
Thank you Snow Gods, we do love you. We always did.
All lifts apart from three Onsen lifts are closed as of 9am.
Official snow depths:
Utopia: 100cm
Chuo: 130cm
Paradise: 70cm
Uwanodai: 80cm
Zao Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Tuesday 19th January 2016 Total snowfall at base 260cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 29 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 142cm observed on 15 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.