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Zao Now: Monday 31st December 2018

  • Dec 31, 2018
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 4cm
Snowfall at base this season 225cm

Posted on Monday 31st December 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Morning from Zao.


It's going to be busy today. After a clearer bit earlier on it is cloudy now - but perhaps clearer again later..?


There was some kind of electricity black-out going on yesterday with some lifts including the Zao Ropeway and facilities affected. Generally things should be back to normal today (though I see that the Kurohime quad and Yokokura Number 2 pair lifts are on hold for some reason early). It would be great if the ski-jo would have one place where such details were explained clearly - official information is all rather fragmented, hmmm. My New Year wish! Other than continued snowfall, of course.


Anyway, cloudy morning but there might be some sunshine today and tomorrow though the snow clouds aren't going to be too far away.


Have a safe and fun New Years Eve. See you tomorrow.



Zao Now 2018-2019 season

Data as of Monday 31st December 2018 Total snowfall at base 225cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 21 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 43cm (on 29th December) November 2018 snowfall 7cm observed on 3 days December 2018 snowfall 218cm observed on 18 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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