Zao Now: Thursday 22nd January 2026
- Jan 22
- 2 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 249cm
Posted on Thursday 22nd January 2026 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
Good morning from Zao.
At the time of writing lots of cloud but some bright spots both at base and higher up. I'd expect changeable weather, though, and we do have snow forecast on and off across the coming days.
The official site is reporting 30cm of snowfall this morning which is great to hear. Not as much as that down below, as you might expect, but a solid 10cm.
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Ski lifts:
All scheduled to be operating apart from Yokokura Number 2
Ski runs:
All of the main areas are open with just a few restrictions
Official snow depth (reported by ski area):
Yokokura area: 70cm
Uwanodai area: 70cm
Utopia area: 170cm
Chuo area: 150cm
Paradise area: 150cm
Summit area: 120cm
More information about the ski area: Zao Onsen
Zao Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Thursday 22nd January 2026 Total snowfall at base 249cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 35 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 24cm (on 12th January) November 2025 snowfall 5cm observed on 2 days December 2025 snowfall 120cm observed on 18 days January 2026 snowfall 124cm observed on 15 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.