Zao Now: Saturday 24th February 2018
- Feb 24, 2018
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 6, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 716cm
Posted on Saturday 24th February 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
Morning from Zao.
It isn't yet, but it looks like it should be snowing before mid morning today, so hope to be able to report some fresh in my next report.
Wrap up well and enjoy.
Today and tomorrow, the Zao Juhyo Matsuri festival is being held at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm in the Yokokura area.
What to expect? The flyer says "Projection Mapping & Extreme Air" and promises "The Coolest Performance EVER". There'll be fireworks too after the last event each day.
Talk about setting expectations at a high level! ;)
It's free to see, so if you are around might be worth checking out.
Lifts and course info:
- All lifts appear to be opening as scheduled
- Note: the Karamatsu pair lift usually only operates on weekends
- All areas open
Official snow depths:
- Summit area: 215cm
- Paradise area: 240cm
- Chuo area: 240cm
- Utopia area: 260cm
- Uwanodai area: 165cm
- Oomori area: 185cm
Zao Now 2017-2018 season |
Data as of Saturday 24th February 2018 Total snowfall at base 716cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 59 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 42cm (on 12th February) November 2017 snowfall 66cm observed on 5 days December 2017 snowfall 193cm observed on 19 days January 2018 snowfall 275cm observed on 21 days February 2018 snowfall 182cm observed on 14 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.