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Zao Now: Sunday 23rd February 2020

  • Feb 23, 2020
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 4cm
Snowfall at base this season 245cm

Posted on Sunday 23rd February 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Morning from Zao.


Unfortunately we had some rain yesterday in the afternoon and it was indeed a very mild day.


But anyway, the happier news is that this morning we have snowy and windy conditions.


The top section of Zao Ropeway, Kurohime and Omori quad lifts are on hold early morning due to the wind. I wouldn't be surprised if more we on hold, but that's what is currently on the official site.


Many of the official snow depth numbers have also been upped a bit so it sounds like there is a layer of fresh covering the mountain this morning which is a relief. More expected today and there's more lined up in the coming week too, so I'm feeling quite positive about it and crossing all fingers!


Official snow depths (as reported by resort):


- Summit area: 90cm

- Paradise area: 100cm

- Chuo area: 115cm

- Utopia area: 100cm

- Uwanodai area: 50cm

- Oomori area: 45cm


All lifts are now normally operating apart from the following:


- Zao Paradise Number 3 pair

- Diamond Number 1 pair

- Astraea Number 3 pair

- Yokokura Number 2 pair


- All courses are now mostly open; some restricted areas



Zao Now 2019-2020 season

Data as of Sunday 23rd February 2020 Total snowfall at base 245cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 40 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (on 7th February) November 2019 snowfall 8cm observed on 3 days December 2019 snowfall 51cm observed on 10 days January 2020 snowfall 88cm observed on 16 days February 2020 snowfall 98cm observed on 11 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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