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Zao Now: Monday 29th January 2018

  • Jan 29, 2018
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 14cm
Snowfall at base this season 520cm

Posted on Monday 29th January 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Good morning from Zao.


Another 14cm of snow to add to the report from here at base this morning with snow falling and forecast to be never far away over the next few days.


Visibility is ok down by base but limited higher up with cloud/fog covering the mountain.


Monday morning and so with the weekend folk returning things should be relatively quiet out there.


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: 165cm

- Paradise area: 180cm

- Chuo area: 180cm

- Utopia area: 230cm

- Uwanodai area: 120cm

- Oomori area: 145cm



Zao Now 2017-2018 season

Data as of Monday 29th January 2018 Total snowfall at base 520cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 43 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 261cm observed on 19 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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