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Zao Now: Thursday 4th January 2018

  • Jan 4, 2018
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 4cm
Snowfall at base this season 288cm

Posted on Thursday 4th January 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Morning from Zao.


A few cm of good quality light snow on the ground on this cold morning.


Snow falling now with limited visibility in places, but it doesn't look like there should be much so conditions out on the slopes should be very good.


Fewer people expected today as the New Year holidays come to an end though next Monday is a national holiday in Japan so we have another "long weekend" coming up... expect Zao to be busy.



Zao Now 2017-2018 season

Data as of Thursday 4th January 2018 Total snowfall at base 288cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 28 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 32cm (on 25th November and 28th December) November 2017 snowfall 66cm observed on 5 days December 2017 snowfall 193cm observed on 19 days January 2018 snowfall 29cm observed on 4 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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