The snow is really coming down now; the flakes are getting bigger and bigger, and the volume is increasing.

All that thunder and lightning and wind paid off, as we got a pretty good snowfall overnight. No where near the 80cm the news channels were saying was likely, but at least we're seeing ski areas finally.

The morning began with some very bright lightning and echoing thunder—good signs for snow—and, sure enough, some graupel (soft hail) did fall right after that.

It seems like heavy snow is falling everywhere except Myoko. I suspect people here think we're getting some good snow, but the reality is that snow is falling but we're getting very little accumulation.

I'm waiting for the official report here; 9:30 and it still isn't out which is terrible on a completely bizarre weather day like today.

Snow is on the menu for the rest of today and through the weekend, so we continue to hope for a genuine, generous serving of real Myoko-weight snow.

The sun is gone, the clouds are back, and so is more of the very pretty, but very light, snow.

Some nice light snow overnight. Once again, not a huge, Myoko-typical dump, but still a welcome addition to a slowly but steadily increasing snowpack.

We may not have typical, massive snow in Myoko this year, but I think we're ahead of the pack: the parking lot at Akakura Kanko Ski Area was completely full by 9:30 yesterday, with lots of out-of-town license plates on the cars.

That most welcome, wonderful, beautiful snow tapered off yesterday, but then started up again during the night.

Nice snowfall through the day yesterday, all the way down to the ocean.

Finally: a Myoko-style snowfall, with reduced visibility, and covered-up car windows.

It's an early morning today, so the report goes out with only two resorts having submitted their info for the day (thank you, Ikenotaira and Akakura Onsen!).

Happy New Year! And happy new snow (sounds like a Japanese ad campaign: "Oh fresh my new snow!" Written with love....)