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Zao Now: Friday 5th February 2021

  • Feb 5, 2021
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 7cm
Snowfall at base this season 313cm

Posted on Friday 5th February 2021 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


At time of writing, you couldn't get it any better after more fresh snow yesterday afternoon and post-grooming with blue skies all around (although the summit is now being brushed by a cloud moving over). I do not know, therefore, what to make of the weather forecast which shows light snow during the day, clouds and high winds higher up.


Let's just make the most of the moment and deal with whatever happens when it happens.


There is also hardly anyone around at the moment but tomorrow is forecasted to be a sunny day so expect more to come in, albeit more will be awaiting the long weekend next week.


All lifts scheduled to be operating apart from:


- Ryuzan pair

- Kokutai pair

- Karamatsu pair

- Paradise Number 3 pair


All areas open apart from:


- Ryuzan

- Kotan


Official snow depths (as reported by the ski area):


- Summit area: 145cm

- Paradise area: 160cm

- Chuo area: 160cm

- Utopia area: 180cm

- Uwanodai area: 130cm

- Omori area: 120cm

- Kurohime: 180cm



Zao Now 2020-2021 season

Data as of Friday 5th February 2021 Total snowfall at base 313cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 38 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 24cm (on 30th January) November 2020 snowfall 0cm December 2020 snowfall 142cm observed on 15 days January 2021 snowfall 146cm observed on 20 days February 2021 snowfall 25cm observed on 3 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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