The Grasshopper’s Weekly Japan Forecast, Thursday February 27th – Dry & Settled Before Storm from the West Brings Mixed Bag from Sunday
Mountainwatch | The Grasshopper
Written Thursday morning, 27th February (Japan Standard Time)
Two more days left in February, folks, the last days of winter! Still, there’s plenty more skiing to be done here in Japan as the snowpack is super deep right now – most likely at its peak – and the Spring months offer more settled and warmer conditions.
After a nice top-up of powder yesterday, high pressure will bring a nice end to the winter months with some of that spring sunshine and warmth throughout the country from Thursday to Saturday.
However, mild easterlies will bring a mixed bag of heavy precipitation to central Honshu from Sunday onwards. The heavy precip will then spread up Northern Honshu and Hokkaido on Tuesday and Wednesday as a low from the west crosses the country. Fortunately, temperatures should stay cold enough in these northern parts of the country to maintain reasonable snow quality and snow levels. Winter conditions should return later next week with a load of powder to reset everything.
Thursday February 27th & Friday February 28th
Japanese resorts received a nice top-up of powder yesterday (Wednesday), and light leftover snow showers will dry up for Honshu this Thursday morning as high pressure brings warmer, sunny skies. Hokkaido will follow suit a little later as the odd snow shower lingers into the afternoon.
The weather will stay mostly fine and dry for a fantastic Friday session as mild south-westerlies spread over the country due to the ridge moving out east.
Saturday March1st & Sunday March 2nd
On Saturday, another ridge keeps things dry and sunny across the country. Temperatures will remain mild over Honshu, but colder, snowless westerlies will arrive on Hokkaido.
Sunday, a weak cold front will bring light snowfall to Hokkaido, and westerlies turn an even colder northwest. The weak front will also cross northern Honshu later in the day, with only the odd flurry likely showing up there. Central Honshu will remain on the warm side of the front, and rain and high-altitude snow will likely build through the day, potentially becoming heavy before snow levels start to drop overnight.
Monday March 3rd to Wednesday March 5th
Monday through Wednesday will see a low out of the west cross over the country, bringing strong winds from the south-to-east for a time Tuesday and Wednesday.
Central Honshu will cop heavy precipitation during this period, but temperatures will be dodgy. A heavy mix of rain and dense snow will fall before colder northwesterlies arrive later on Wednesday, bringing proper legit powder.
The southern half of northern Honshu will be on the edge of this heavy precip on Monday, and it’ll spread over the northern half of the region during Tuesday. However, temperatures should be a bit colder up here, so the bulk of it should fall as snow to low levels.
On Hokkaido, light snow showers and cold northwesterlies during Monday will drop away on Tuesday before the easterly winds hit on Wednesday. The easterlies should stay sufficiently cold here, too, and moderate-to-heavy snowfall is likely across the southern half of the Island, with lighter falls in the north.
Over the following few days, the low will move away to the northeast, and cold northwesterlies should bring significant snowfall to the country.
That’s all from me today, folks. Have a great week, and I’ll see you here next Thursday for another weekly rundown of Japan’s highlights and snowlights.
Grasshopper
