*9cm has fallen in the last 24 hours in Niseko. At 07:00 today the temperature was -1°C. This morning Niseko is in the grip of one of the worst storms of the season. Gale force winds have blasted everything with a thick layer of ice. Yesterdays wet snow and rain has been turned to a thick layer of ice and visibility is very limited. There are huge snow drifts of thick heavy snow outside our front door. The peak of the storm is forecast for around midday. On the mountain today is almost certainly a write off. The lower lifts may open for those brave enough to ski or snowboard in this awful weather. Another down day today. Hopefully tomorrow (possibly late afternoon today ) the winds calm down and we are able to get up on the mountain is search of wind blown powder stashes.
Snowfall in Niseko, 2 March 2018
* The whole of Hokkaido is in chaos with most public transport services closed including train services / airport services / bus services / toll highways / mountain passes. If you can suggest staying off the roads until the storm mellows out as driving conditions will be very dangerous. With the warmer weather roofs are shedding massive amounts of snow so look up when you make your way around town and be careful where you park as yesterday quite a few cars were crushed by falling ice. This morning we had to scratch off about 1cm of solid ice just to be able to read the measurements on our ruler and thermometer – nasty!!
Frozen….
Useful information from other places
- Accumulative snow fall to date in Niseko, 1355.5cm
- Snow depth at the peak, 505cm
- Snow depth at the base, 250cm
- Real time lift operations.
- JMA’s six hour precipitation forecast, possibly the most accurate weather map
- Snow Forecast 6 day weather summary
- The latest Niseko avalanche report.
Live Web Cam from Hirafu Village
Snow Forecast
360niseko Snow Station Readings Disclaimer
The 360niseko’s snow station for the 2017-18 season is in Higashiyama at 200m *The Hirafu Gondola is at 305m. Please be aware that this new reading is NOT in Hirafu village but a few kilometers down the road. There is always a deviation how and where the snow falls – the area is famous for micro climates and mini weather patterns. Some days there may be 10cm in Annupuri and 25cm in Hanazono and vice versa – some days 30cm of fresh snowfall comes down everywhere!! Altitude plays a big part as well so please don’t take the 360niseko snow readings as being definitive – the readings are what is outside our house on the ground.
