Rain arrived yesterday in the morning - a bit earlier than expected - and at times it was coming down really heavily. A few breaks to the rain in the afternoon where I am here, but more rain falling in the evening... again, heavy (and noisy!) rain at times.

This morning there is still cloud cover over the region but it's dry for now. Rainfall is forecast from later this afternoon and into tomorrow. Before then today during the daytime temperatures are expected to rise to as high as 17-18 degrees in town.

It is already a mild feeling morning.

There seems to be less wind than yesterday in higher areas and Kagura are open as normal.

Gala Yuzawa however are again closed today, apparently due to wind conditions.

Snow around town and the lower areas of mountainsides is quickly melting away now and no doubt today will see another noticeable change. It's still worth mentioning though that with the large amount of snow base this year, there's still a remarkable amount left over. There's lots of activity with farmers doing their best to try and get the snow to melt quick so that they can get on with their work.

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Official snow depths:
** General opening status - any unplanned closures will be mentioned in above report.

GALA Yuzawa:
Official snow depth of 260cm.
The South Area is now closed.
The Central Area, most of the North Area and the downhill course remain open.

Kagura:
Official snow depth of 350cm.
Still!
All three main areas of Kagura remain pretty much fully open.
The 'Kagura Park' is closed now but should be re-opening in mid April.

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Planned closing dates for resorts in the Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma region
Information as currently available and of course subject to change depending on conditions. Resorts not mentioned below are now closed.

Open until Wednesday May 6th:

- Naeba (*closed weekdays, open ONLY on weekends and holidays from April 5th [except April 29th])
- GALA Yuzawa
- Kagura (Tashiro)

Open until Sunday May 31st:

- Kagura (Mitsumata)