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Zao Now: Friday 8th December 2017

  • Dec 8, 2017
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 5, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 7cm
Snowfall at base this season 81cm

Posted on Friday 8th December 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Good morning from Zao.


It's snowing again. Again, not a huge amount to report - just a few cm on the ground - and hopefully more by the time we get into tomorrow.


We may get to see some sunshine over the weekend and not expecting much snow, but at least the first part of next week is looking very positive. Will that be the start of the proper prolonged snowfall for the season? Would be good, and I'll keep you updated.


Operating lifts:

- Chuo Number 1 pair lift

- Zao Ropeway

- Zao Chuo Ropeway

- Sky Cable


Open course areas:

- Summit

- Chuo

- Utopia


Official snow depths:

- Summit area: 40cm

- Paradise area: 45cm

- Chuo area: 45cm

- Utopia area: 35cm

- Uwanodai area: 15cm

- Oomori area: 5cm



Zao Now 2017-2018 season

Data as of Friday 8th December 2017 Total snowfall at base 81cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 32cm (on 25th November) November 2017 snowfall 66cm observed on 5 days December 2017 snowfall 15cm observed on 5 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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