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Zao Now: Tuesday 28th December 2021

  • Dec 28, 2021
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 30cm
Snowfall at base this season 169cm

Posted on Tuesday 28th December 2021 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Yesterday's slopes were dreamy and set to continue today with another fresh dump last night with snow continuing to fall. It should lighten off during the day with tomorrow bringing clear spells (and the back to snow for the count down). Horrible fog at the moment though.


People are beginning to drift in for the New Year. The Omori slopes are now open and, being slightly lower, may escape the worst current fog line.


Lower Uwanodai has quite a few schools running as well as scattered about but the mountain absorbs numbers well and you wouldn't notice. The wind us up a bit more than yesterday.


Wrap up well, get on those yellow lenses and enjoy the day albeit maybe one for more refreshment stops than usual


Official snow depth


Summit: 60cm

Paradise: 90cm

Chuo: 90cm

Utopia: 130cm

Uwanodai: 75cm


The majority of lifts and areas and runs are now scheduled to be open on the mountain.



Zao Now 2021-2022 season

Data as of Tuesday 28th December 2021 Total snowfall at base 169cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 14 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (on 27th and 28th December) November 2021 snowfall 38cm observed on 3 days December 2021 snowfall 131cm 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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