Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 3cm Snowfall at base this season 419cm Posted on Saturday 31st January 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . Hello and good morning from a snowy Zao. Just a few cm of fresh snow to report but more is expected through the day today, tonight and also into tomorrow. It's not crazy cold this morning. Foggy conditions on the mountain with poor visibility all round unfortunately. One of those mornings when you can't see much at all of anything. It's the Festival tonight... over at Uwanodai if you are around. Might see you there. (If the fog clears up enough!) Heavy snow once the festival has finished please! Official snow depths: Utopia: 190cm Chuo: 200cm Paradise: 200cm Uwanodai: 135cm Zao Onsen is fully open (though note that the Karamatsu pair lift is closed on weekdays). Zao Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Saturday 31st January 2015 Total snowfall at base 419cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 38 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 80cm (on 3rd December) November 2014 snowfall 20cm observed on 2 days December 2014 snowfall 281cm observed on 21 days January 2015 snowfall 118cm observed on 15 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 1cm Snowfall at base this season 416cm Posted on Wednesday 28th January 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . Back to winter this morning! Nice and cold once again after that rather warm day yesterday in particular, with just a sprinkling of snow on the ground.. I think I can just about report it as 1cm. A light wind. Visibility somewhat limited especially on upper areas of the resort and light snowfall at times. Potentially heavy snowfall is due Friday into the weekend. Keep an eye on that over the next few days... It's the Zao Juhyo Festival coming up on Saturday 31st January. 7:15pm until 8:30pm at the stage area by the Base Center at Uwanodai - be there for some traditional snow and fire themed festival fun. Zao Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Wednesday 28th January 2015 Total snowfall at base 416cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 37 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 80cm (on 3rd December) November 2014 snowfall 20cm observed on 2 days December 2014 snowfall 281cm observed on 21 days January 2015 snowfall 115cm observed on 14 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 15cm Snowfall at base this season 449cm Posted on Monday 2nd February 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . The sun is out at the moment this morning with more blue sky appearing. Large shadows in places due to lots of cloud still around up there but it's a feel-good morning weather wise. Keeping good and cold and so snow conditions on the slopes should be great this morning with a nice new layer to enjoy. Over the next few days a varied menu of cloud, sun, light snow showers (nothing major) seems to be forecast. Looks quiet after the busy weekend. Official snow depths: Utopia: 210cm Chuo: 200cm Paradise: 200cm Uwanodai: 150cm Zao Onsen is fully open (* note that the Karamatsu pair lift is closed on weekdays). Zao Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Monday 2nd February 2015 Total snowfall at base 449cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 40 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 80cm (on 3rd December) November 2014 snowfall 20cm observed on 2 days December 2014 snowfall 281cm observed on 21 days January 2015 snowfall 118cm observed on 15 days February 2015 snowfall 30cm observed on 2 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 15cm Snowfall at base this season 434cm Posted on Sunday 1st February 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . The festival did take place last night with snow falling all around us - the stormy conditions didn't spoil things and it went ahead as did the fireworks. So yes, new snowfall. There's at least 15cm of fresh overnight giving the mountain a good refresh for this morning. It's a cold start to the day and just cloudy conditions now with the snow easing off. Snowfall on and off for the day forecast though and as I look out it's another day of limited visibility. Similar conditions on the local forecast for tomorrow. Official snow depths: Utopia: 190cm Chuo: 200cm Paradise: 200cm Zao Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Sunday 1st February 2015 Total snowfall at base 434cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 39 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 80cm (on 3rd December) November 2014 snowfall 20cm observed on 2 days December 2014 snowfall 281cm observed on 21 days January 2015 snowfall 118cm observed on 15 days February 2015 snowfall 15cm observed on 1 day Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 1cm Snowfall at base this season 330cm Posted on Monday 1st February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . Good morning from Zao. More limited visibility on the mountain again this morning but it's not snowing - more like a cloudy and foggy situation. There has been a bit of snow since yesterday but it's rather wet and heavy. I had fun out there yesterday but my knees and thighs definitely took a good workout and we could really be doing with a new decent delivery of snow to liven things up and freshen things up. Which brings me to... I am finding myself disagreeing with the snow quality code that the resort is publishing at the moment. The available codes are as below: S - powder snow A - very good B - fairly good C - normal/average D - fairly poor E - poor The resort today is claiming 'S' as the mountain-wide quality of snow this morning. If today is 'S', then how do we compare that with when there's 40cm of fresh light dry powder out there? Today is not 'S'. Anyway, enough of that hopefully we should get a bit of snowfall tomorrow and then after that it's probably going to be the end of the week before we get much more. Zao Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Monday 1st February 2016 Total snowfall at base 330cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 40 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 1cm observed on 1 day Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 5cm Snowfall at base this season 354cm Posted on Saturday 6th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . It's snowing again this morning. 5cm on the ground around my base area here and more falling as I write this - I think it's going to be limited visibility up on the slopes once again this morning. It might well be snowing right now but not a whole lot of snow is expected over the next few days, so says the updated forecast. After Monday when sunny skies are expected, the next decent snowfall would seem to be due around Tuesday/Wednesday and we might get some strong winds blowing about as well then. Still it should keep cold each day. Tonight it's the Juhyo Matsuri (festival) tonight with amongst other things a firework display from 9pm. And welcome to all of the guests who are now here in Zao for the Chinese New Year. All lifts are operating this morning. Official snow depths: Utopia: 125cm Chuo: 160cm Paradise: 140cm Uwanodai: 110cm Zao Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Saturday 6th February 2016 Total snowfall at base 354cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 44 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 25cm observed on 5 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 1cm Snowfall at base this season 355cm Posted on Monday 8th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . Morning from Zao Onsen, and it's a really cold one - possibly the coldest morning of the season, certainly one of them. My thermometer earlier on was saying -7 degrees. Wonder how much colder it is up on the mountain right now?! (Resort is reporting -12 degrees as of 8:30am). There was some cloud around earlier as well but it's mostly blue sky now and the sun shining brightly. Lovely. Still due to be snowing tomorrow and into Wednesday and hopefully strong winds won't cause us any problems. Lots of Japan looks like it's due something of a warm up this coming weekend and it might well bring with it some rain. Here's to avoiding that lot! All lifts are operating this morning. Official snow depths: Utopia: 125cm Chuo: 160cm Paradise: 140cm Uwanodai: 110cm Zao Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Monday 8th February 2016 Total snowfall at base 355cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 45 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 26cm observed on 6 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 3cm Snowfall at base this season 345cm Posted on Wednesday 3rd February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . It seems a while since we got sunny blue skies over us here in Zao - but it's one of those mornings today. Very fine conditions this morning. Just 3cm of snow since yesterday to report but I think people will be excited just to get to see everything after quite a lot of white-out (or near white-out) days recently! Even with the sun it should be keeping very cold today, with slightly warmer conditions expected tomorrow. The forecast looks to be pointing to snowfall tomorrow and then again around Saturday, and those regular refreshes will be welcome (as always). All planned lifts are operating this morning. The Karamatsu lift is rested on weekdays. Official snow depths: Utopia: 125cm Chuo: 160cm Paradise: 140cm Uwanodai: 110cm Zao Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Total snowfall at base 345cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 42 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 16cm observed on 3 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 12cm Snowfall at base this season 342cm Posted on Tuesday 2nd February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . It has been snowing. And we have a decent 12cm of fresh snowfall since yesterday as well. Snow was coming down this morning - again a bit on the wet side - but hopefully we might get some more before the end of today and overnight. There's also a chance of some blue sky around today. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot lined up in the forecast for after that over the next 6 days or so, so the more we get now the better. All planned lifts are operating this morning. The Karamatsu lift is rested on weekdays. Official snow depths: Utopia: 125cm Chuo: 160cm Paradise: 140cm Uwanodai: 110cm Zao Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Total snowfall at base 342cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 41 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 13cm observed on 2 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 2cm Snowfall at base this season 357cm Posted on Tuesday 9th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . Fine weather conditions yesterday making for some beautiful scenery and some fine looking ice monsters, even if they may generally be smaller than usual. Earlier on this morning some snow was falling but since then it has eased off and there's been a bit of sunshine. Snowfall is expected though today and overnight tonight; hopefully quite a lot of it as well so I look forward to reporting that in my report tomorrow morning. All planned lifts are operating this morning. The Karamatsu pair lift does not operate on weekdays. Official snow depths: Utopia: 125cm Chuo: 160cm Paradise: 140cm Uwanodai: 110cm Zao Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Tuesday 9th February 2016 Total snowfall at base 357cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 46 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 28cm observed on 7 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 4cm Snowfall at base this season 349cm Posted on Friday 5th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . It is not as cold this morning with temperature currently -2C here in the village... and we're back to rather limited visibility on the mountain especially higher up. There's 4cm of fresh on the ground here this morning since my last report. Light snow is expected for the day today with heavier snow likely tomorrow and through into Sunday morning. All planned lifts are operating this morning. The Karamatsu lift is rested on weekdays. Official snow depths: Utopia: 125cm Chuo: 160cm Paradise: 140cm Uwanodai: 110cm Zao Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Friday 5th February 2016 Total snowfall at base 349cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 43 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 20cm observed on 4 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata New snowfall at base 1cm Snowfall at base this season 366cm Posted on Thursday 11th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here . Lots of cloud around this morning but blue sky as well. It's a national holiday here (National Foundation Day) and so there will be a lot of day-trippers coming up to have a day skiing, though perhaps not as busy as a weekend... we'll see. Seems to be a lot of people around early on though. Sun is forecast for tomorrow and then - as with most places it seems - a real warm up for the weekend. And very possibly rain. Come Monday we should be back to winter-like cold once again with snow expected on Monday and Tuesday. Recommendation - plan accordingly! All planned lifts are operating this morning. The Karamatsu pair lift does not operate on weekdays but is running today because it is a national holiday here in Japan. Official snow depths: Utopia: 125cm Chuo: 160cm Paradise: 140cm Uwanodai: 115cm Zao Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Thursday 11th February 2016 Total snowfall at base 366cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 48 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 46cm (on 19th January) November 2015 snowfall 22cm observed on 2 days December 2015 snowfall 96cm observed on 12 days January 2016 snowfall 211cm observed on 25 days February 2016 snowfall 37cm observed on 9 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com