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Zao Now: Tuesday 1st March 2016

  • Mar 1, 2016
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 4, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 24cm
Snowfall at base this season 436cm

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


Good morning from Zao where there's a good new thick carpet of snow on the ground.


Yesterday was white-out on the mountain and very cold too. The result from all of that and overnight is 24cm of fresh snow outside my place here and no doubt more than that on the mountain. A very good way to begin March, I must say!


This morning conditions are still pretty stormy with cold temperatures, snow falling and importantly quite strong winds. I don't know how the day started but it looks like some lifts are affected at the moment (11am), but are mostly open. The top section of the Zao Ropeway being one of the lifts closed.


Tomorrow should be less stormy though the snowfall may continue for another day or so... after that clearer skies and warmer conditions are forecast for the weekend.


Lifts closed as of 11am:


Top part of Zao Ropeway

Onsen Number 4 quad lift

Zao Paradise Number 3 pair lift


Official snow depths:


Utopia: 110cm

Chuo: 150cm

Paradise: 145cm

Uwanodai: 85cm



Zao Now 2015-2016 season

Data as of Tuesday 1st March 2016 Total snowfall at base 436cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 57 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 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 83cm observed on 17 days March 2016 snowfall 24cm 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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