Grasshopper’s Weekly Japan Forecast, February 10 – Things Settle After Last Weekend’s Monster Totals

Mountainwatch | The Grasshopper

Valid Thursday 10 Feb – Wednesday 16 Feb

Well, if you don’t want to hear about a massive weekend of Japanese snowfall skip this paragraph. Last weekend was all time around Honshu turning out even better than expected (and it was expected to be pretty good). Areas around Hakuba, Myoko and Nozawa are just some of the places which copped it and some of the numbers really make you jealous if you’re dealing with 30-degree heat in the Southern Hemisphere.

So, how good was it? In the past seven days there was 219cm reported at Nozawa with a mammoth 86cm dump on Sunday (followed by 72cm on Monday), 255cm over the last seven days for Myoko with Saturday through Monday all producing above 60cm each day. Hokkaido also did its best to get in on the party with Niseko getting 122cm from consistent snowfall over the past week and Kiroro a little better with 138cm.

So, after that deep recap what’s on the way for the next week? Well, unfortunately it’s not looking quite as good as we saw last week with some subdued conditions on the way but there are still some decent falls for Honshu again shown by the map below which we’ll unpack below.

Forecast:

Thursday, Feb 10- Friday February 11

A cloudy Thursday around Honshu with snow developing through the morning and continuing through the evening. Totals differ, around 6-20cm. Around Hokkaido it’s a break in consistent snow over the last week with the sun coming out and mild winds providing a great day to enjoy recent snowfall.

Snow continues around Honshu through Friday morning, easing through the day. Winds pick up from the northeast. Totals vary in different regions with around 4-18cm. Subdued conditions continue around Hokkaido with mild winds and sunshine coming out through the day.

Saturday, Feb 12 – Sunday Feb 13

Saturday sees cloud around Honshu, clearing at times with some scattered flurries, but shouldn’t accumulate too much. Some wind gusts through the afternoon. Early cloud around Hokkaido clearing for some sun before more cloud through the evening with chance of snowfalls in the evening. Totals 3-12cm.

Cloud sticks around on Sunday for Honshu with mild northerlies. Snow picks up later in the evening but should be get slightly heavier Monday morning. For Hokkaido snow thins out through the early morning before returning later towards the afternoon. Winds picking up from the southwest turning easterly later on. Totals look relatively small, around 4-15cm.

Monday Feb 14 – Wed, Feb 16:

Northwesterly winds bring snow to the Honshu resorts through the morning possibly continuing through the day. Totals again vary, around 6-20+cm. For Hokkaido the sun makes another appearance after a reasonably cold morning. Mild winds expected.

It clears up a little around Honshu on Tuesday with the sun poking through and possible late snow in the evening. Totals around 3-10cm overnight, possibly more in some parts. A similar story up in Hokkaido with cloud and the sun poking through in the middle of the day before more cloud expected in the evening.

Snow continues through Wednesday morning around Honshu with northerly winds picking up through the afternoon. It doesn’t look to be super heavy with totals around 6-18cm. Sunshine closes out the week in Hokkaido with mild winds once again, the theme of the week, but unfortunately not as much snow as we have seen recently.

 Extended Outlook:

It is a mixed bag around Japan this week with some really relaxed conditions around Hokkaido after a productive week last week. Sunshine isn’t a bad thing, but seeing as they have been playing second fiddle to Honshu for most of the season I’m sure many would love to see a few more stormy days in the forecast.

For Honshu the forecast is good (although not quite as good as last week). Multiple snow days expected with maximum totals getting up towards one metre. It’s not quite what we saw last week but we have been spoilt recently, the upcoming week is still quite productive. Some decent falls are also expected heading into next weekend on Thursday/Friday week which are helping bump up the heatmap shown earlier.

Overall, I am sure many that aren’t in Japan right now are very envious of the all -time conditions. The good news for those lucky enough to be in Japan here is sunshine on the way to enjoy recent snowfalls all over the place in the next seven days. Even better, there is a little top up on the way around Honshu at times.

Take care,

Grasshopper