Weekly Japan Forecast – A Break Snowfall This Weekend, A Lot More Next Week
Written Thursday morning, 13th February (Japan Standard Time)
It’s been a massive week in Japan, with the biggest storm of the season dumping around 2m or more of snow over Central Honshu and close to a metre in Hokkaido.
The next snowstorm is currently hitting the country with another round of heavy snowfall for Honshu and a lighter load for Hokkaido. Saturday will be the time to get amongst it as we see a break in the weather with high pressure and sunny skies. A warm storm will likely bring rain and high-elevation snow to Honshu on Sunday.
Another big snowstorm is expected to get started on Monday and may last into the weekend or early the following week, with deep powder likely. It’s already been one heck of a season, especially for resorts in central Honshu, where snow depths are above average for this time of year, and this will be yet another notch in the belt.

Thursday 13th & Friday 14th February
For the third time in a row, the forecast starts amidst another Japanese storm. Yesterday, Wednesday, started mostly fine across the country, but by the end of the day, warm southwesterlies had arrived, and rain and high-elevation snow has since come bucketing down.
But right now, early Thursday morning, a cold front is crossing the country, and temperatures and snow levels are hastily on their way down. By the time lifts start spinning for the day, snow levels will be at rock bottom, and high-quality Japow will fall heavily on Honshu and lightly on Hokkaido, along with strong, cold, west to northwest winds. Snowfall rates will back off over Honshu throughout the morning, leaving lighter snowfall for the rest of the day.
Friday will bring light snowfall to Hokkaido throughout the day, while Northern Honshu will see slightly heavier snowfall during the morning before easing and petering out through the second half of the day. In Central Honshu, westerly winds will bring light snowfall to Hakuba resorts while most others remain dry until around opening time to midday. The snowfall will then become more widespread as winds tilt to the northwest, but will clear Friday evening as high pressure pushes in from the west.

Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th February
We see a break in the action on Saturday as high pressure dominates the country, with clear, sunny skies for Honshu and light left-over snow showers on Hokkaido eventually drying up. Strong northwest winds over Northern Honshu and Hokkaido will also abate.
The forecast for Sunday is more uncertain, but there’s a good chance a warm storm from the west will spread rain and high-elevation snow up Honshu during AM hours, with heavy falls possible in some areas of central Honshu before it clears in the afternoon. Northern parts of Northern Honshu and Hokkaido will likely see little, if any of it.

Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th February
Another big storm will build on Monday, likely starting out warm with elevated snow levels before the cold front hits later in the day. We should then see heavy snowfall over Honshu, especially for central parts, persisting through Tuesday and Wednesday.
The cold front may hit Hokkaido a little later on Monday or even early Tuesday, with more moderate rates of snowfall expected through Tuesday and Wednesday.
Current forecasts have the storm continuing into next weekend, possibly even early the following week, and will add another massive load of powder to the already abundant snowpack.

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