Weather
Japan is lined up for a snowy stretch, with the most dependable near-term turns in Hokkaido from Saturday through Monday before forecast confidence drops on exact placement and intensity for the Tuesday through Sunday period. Expect colder air to keep snow quality generally fair to good, but there will be short windows of denser snow when snow levels nudge higher, especially at lower elevations in central Honshu.
From Saturday through Monday, guidance is converging on a Hokkaido-focused wave with the best overlap in timing, while snowfall intensity still varies from run to run. The practical ski takeaway is that Hokkaido has the strongest near-term signal for consistent refreshes, with storm-cycle totals in the 20 cm to 60 cm class and locally higher pockets in favored zones. Central and northern Honshu look quieter in this first window, mostly around 0 cm to 10 cm. Snow levels mostly sit low enough for snow at mid and upper mountain terrain, generally near sea level to around 700 meters, with occasional pushes toward 1,000 meters. Temperatures stay cold enough for winter surfaces overall, and SLRs are mostly around 10:1 to 14:1 for moderate to fairly good quality, with intermittent denser bursts near 7:1 to 10:1. Winds are periodically strong enough to affect exposed terrain, with sustained speeds often 20 to 35 kilometers per hour and higher gusts.
From Tuesday into Thursday, guidance agrees that broader snowfall returns but diverges notably on where the heaviest bands set up and how long they hold, so confidence in exact resort outcomes is lower. The more likely scenario is a wider Honshu reload with many areas seeing roughly 10 cm to 40 cm, while upside cases are higher where persistent banding develops. Snow levels generally trend lower than the first wave, often near sea level to around 600 meters, which supports better top-to-bottom snow chances at many hills. Looking farther out from Friday into Sunday, there is a meaningful but still lower-confidence signal for another round that could bring a regional 15 cm to 35 cm class refresh, with locally larger totals where snowfall rates align; treat this late-period window as a potential setup rather than a locked forecast.
Resort Forecast Totals (Sat Feb 28 – Mon Mar 02)
- Kiroro – 44 cm-72 cm
- Furano – 36 cm-54 cm
- Sapporo Teine – 18 cm-29 cm
- Hoshino Resort Tomamu – 19 cm-28 cm
- Niseko Grand Hirafu – 17 cm-27 cm
- Rusutsu – 10 cm-15 cm
- Nozawa Onsen – 3 cm-5 cm
- Shiga Kogen Okushiga Kogen – 3 cm-4 cm
- Madarao Kogen – 2 cm-3 cm
- Naeba – 1 cm-2 cm
- Gala Yuzawa – 1 cm-2 cm
- Akakura Onsen – 0 cm-1 cm
- Zao Onsen – 0 cm
- Hakuba Happo-one – 0 cm
- Appi Kogen – 0 cm
