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Zao Now: Monday 1st January 2018

  • Jan 1, 2018
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 260cm

Posted on Monday 1st January 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Good morning from Zao.


Happy New Year!


Just a dusting of snow this morning but I am awarding 1cm to the report this morning (adding in the other 'dustings' up until now, feeling generous).


Visibility looks limited to poor in places at the moment out on the mountain.


Heavy snow due tomorrow. We don't have any snow problems but could do with a nice decent deep layer of fresh snow to freshen things up. It's that never ending need for fresh, isn't it.


All lifts operating and all courses open.


Lifts and courses:


- All open


Official snow depths:


- Summit area: 105cm

- Paradise area: 130cm

- Chuo area: 130cm

- Utopia area: 135cm

- Uwanodai area: 75cm

- Oomori area: 75cm



Zao Now 2017-2018 season

Data as of Monday 1st January 2018 Total snowfall at base 260cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 25 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 32cm (on 25th November and 28th December) November 2017 snowfall 66cm observed on 5 days December 2017 snowfall 193cm observed on 19 days January 2018 snowfall 1cm 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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