Zao Now: Thursday 8th January 2026
- Jan 8
- 2 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 8cm
Snowfall at base this season 171cm
Posted on Thursday 8th January 2026 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
Greetings from Zao with another batch of fresh snow on the ground and snow due for the day.
Tomorrow and Saturday might be clearer but there's more snow incoming by the start of Monday morning for at least a few days. Possibly quite a bit of it too which would be very welcome.
Still, numbers are still low, but we have had a run of days with fresh layers.
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Ski lifts:
All scheduled to be operating apart from Yokokura Number 2
Ski runs:
All of the main areas are open with just a few restrictions remaining
Official snow depth (reported by ski area):
Yokokura area: 40cm
Uwanodai area: 45cm
Utopia area: 85cm
Chuo area: 60cm
Paradise area: 60cm
Summit area: 65cm
More information about the ski area: Zao Onsen
Zao Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Thursday 8th January 2026 Total snowfall at base 171cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 27 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 23cm (on 4th December) November 2025 snowfall 5cm observed on 2 days December 2025 snowfall 120cm observed on 18 days January 2026 snowfall 46cm observed on 7 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.