March is almost at an end, and Furano is still teetering on the break between winter and spring. Two weeks ago the pavement was starting to peek through all those snow-packed roads, but then before the driveways could clear completely, we got blasted with half a meter of snow earlier this week. Things have started to thaw a bit since then, but the flakes are flying again today, and the temperature won't even break the freezing mark. All this on the day before the last scheduled day of operations for the Kitanomine Zone.

It's been flurrying since early morning, but we haven't seen much in the way of significant accumulations down in the village. Out on the mountain, things are a bit different. Should be an excellent day of skiing and boarding, and you should really take advantage of all this late season snow we've been seeing.

Expect afternoon highs to top out around -2. The winds are really whipping around out there, as we are caught in the backside of a low pressure system working its way across Japan. Tomorrow should bring more of the same late-winter weather with below-freezing temperatures and snow forecast for the latter half of the day.

The Spies Course in Furano Zone will be closed on March 25 for ski competions.

March 25 is the final day of the season for the Kitanomine Zone. The proposed closing date for Furano Zone is May 6.