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Zao Now: Friday 1st January 2016

  • Jan 1, 2016
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 4, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 5cm
Snowfall at base this season 123cm

Posted on Friday 1st January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Happy New Year!


And hello to everyone from here in Zao.


There's 5cm of fresh snow outside this morning.


It's a cold morning with snow still falling but we expect that to ease off.


Tomorrow and Sunday it's going to be getting a little warmer...temps might even venture into + numbers (though hopefully still keep low). The return to a colder situation with the promise of further snowfall looks to be around Tuesday.


Official snow depths:


Utopia: 60cm

Chuo: 70cm

Paradise: 50cm

Uwanodai: 25cm



Zao Now 2015-2016 season

Data as of Friday 1st January 2016 Total snowfall at base 123cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 15 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 22cm (on 27th December) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 5cm 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.


SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for.



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