We have cloud and foggy covering the resort this morning so I would expect there to be areas of low light at the least, if not reduced visibility due to fog.

If you have headed out for first lifts this morning you will not have had to share the mountain with many others.

What a great day it is to farewell 2016. There was low light in the first part of the morning but the cloud has lifted to reveal mostly blue sky, and as a result the visibility is now perfect.

It is a nice morning here in Furano with blue sky over the resort and town, but beyond those boundaries it is cloud cover.

You would think we were entering the month of February given the temperature that has been thrown at us this morning.

It is looking like another great powder day with 6cm of new snow overnight and heavy snow falling at the moment.

The weekend provided some great skiing on the snow that was delivered by the storm last week.

Wow a perfect morning with great news. There has been an additional 14cm of fresh snow since yesterday.

There is good news and not so good news out of Furano this morning.

The big news of the day is that Kitanomine is now open, although just a partial opening for now.

It is another extremely cold day in Furano with -16c at base level and even colder -18c at the top of the resort.

It couldn't be a more perfect morning here in Furano but it is cold. In the village it is a very chilly -16c.

There is a moderate breeze around the base and at the top of Furano Ropeway it is fairly strong.

As the temperatures below show it has been a cold start to the day with -13c at the top of the resort and not much warmer in the village at -10c.