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Zao Now: Monday 22nd January 2018

  • Jan 22, 2018
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 11cm
Snowfall at base this season 396cm

Posted on Monday 22nd January 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Good morning from Zao.


A layer of fresh snow to report at base this morning... slightly over 10cm. It's a cold start to the day too with the top station reporting a temperature of -14C. The snow conditions should be good, especially if there's more fresh up on the mountain.


A more full-on prolonged dump of light snow would be welcome and this week should be bringing just that. Heavy snow at times along with strong winds likely through the week, starting tomorrow.


Lifts and course info:


- All lifts operating (apart from Karamatsu which is normally closed on weekdays)

- All areas open


Official snow depths:


- Summit area: 135cm

- Paradise area: 150cm

- Chuo area: 150cm

- Utopia area: 160cm

- Uwanodai area: 90cm

- Oomori area: 90cm



Zao Now 2017-2018 season

Data as of Monday 22nd January 2018 Total snowfall at base 396cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 37 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 34cm (on 10th January) November 2017 snowfall 66cm observed on 5 days December 2017 snowfall 193cm observed on 19 days January 2018 snowfall 137cm observed on 13 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.


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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