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Zao Now: Thursday 1st January 2015

  • Jan 1, 2015
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 30cm
Snowfall at base this season 331cm

Posted on Thursday 1st January 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Happy New Year.


2015 has started off with a lot of snowfall to report. About 30cm outside my base here in the village area, so I expect more in places on the mountain. Seems nice and light too and so conditions should be very good on the runs this morning with lots of deep to find. Poor visibility on the mountain as well with an early morning (?) fog as well as the cloud covering the mountain.


Snow and moderate winds expected to continue through tomorrow as well as very low temperatures.


By the end of the weekend another milder spell with calmer conditions is forecast.


Official snow depths:


Utopia: 170cm

Chuo: 200cm

Paradise: 165cm

Uwanodai: 135cm


Zao Onsen is fully open.



Zao Now 2014-2015 season

Data as of Thursday 1st January 2015 Total snowfall at base 331cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 24 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 80cm (on 3rd December) November 2014 snowfall 20cm observed on 2 days December 2014 snowfall 281cm observed on 21 days January 2015 snowfall 30cm observed on 1 day




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.


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