I have slightly under 6cm of observed fresh snowfall to report to you this morning.

While the four ski areas are open, which is good, we're kind of in that early season 'waiting for snow' holding mode at the moment.

Fine weather when I got back to Shiga Kogen yesterday with some cloud but a lot of nice blue sky.

We've had almost 30cm of fresh snow since yesterday which is great to be able to report.

As much as I'd like it to be otherwise, I do have a day job and responsibilities beyond those of keeping you informed of the Furano snow scene.

The ski area will need more to open on Saturday but some good snowfall is currently forecast going into Friday.

There was a powerful earthquake late last night off the eastern coast of Aomori. A reminder that these things happen without warning and are very scary.

Just a few cm of (wet) snow this morning and maybe up to around 5cm on top.

We are a-Rockin' & a-Rollin'. Mucho snow fell throughout the day yesterday.

Another day with some good snow falling. To start out, though, we did not feel last night's earthquake—lots of people have already asked about that.