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Zao Now: Tuesday 8th January 2019

  • Jan 8, 2019
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 241cm

Posted on Tuesday 8th January 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Cloud and light snow this morning but things should be revving up to bring us some potentially heavy snow overnight tonight. Bring it on, I say.


All course areas of Zao are open - just the Karamatsu pair and Yokokura 2 pair lifts being rested.


Poor visibility this morning with fog (or 'gas') making things pretty difficult to see on the mountain.


I hope to be reporting some good numbers tomorrow.


Operation info from official sources:


- All lifts operating apart from the Karamatsu pair and Yokokura Number 2 pair lifts

- All courses open


Official snow depths (as reported by resort):


- Summit area: 95cm

- Paradise area: 130cm

- Chuo area: 130cm

- Utopia area: 90cm

- Uwanodai area: 80cm

- Oomori area: 90cm



Zao Now 2018-2019 season

Data as of Tuesday 8th January 2019 Total snowfall at base 241cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 25 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 January 2019 snowfall 16cm 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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