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Zao Now: Tuesday 4th January 2022

  • Jan 4, 2022
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 257cm

Posted on Tuesday 4th January 2022 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


It continues this morning and is likely to do so all day levelling off tomorrow morning. Cloud cover is down and winds are likely to pick up later on so make the most of the tops in the morning (with wind chill it is also going to be cold up there).


As a reminder, night skiing is currently on at both Uwanodai and Yokokura daily and there are people braving the night chill. Those slopes, however, will not get groomed until early in the morning so they are rather chopped up at the end of the day.


Looking forward to bit more sunshine tomorrow.


Official snow depth


Summit: 85cm

Paradise: 130cm

Chuo: 130cm

Utopia: 185cm

Uwanodai: 100cm


Almost all lifts and areas and runs are scheduled to be open.



Zao Now 2021-2022 season

Data as of Tuesday 4th January 2022 Total snowfall at base 257cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 21 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (on 27th and 28th December) November 2021 snowfall 38cm observed on 3 days December 2021 snowfall 160cm observed on 14 days January 2022 snowfall 59cm 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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