Hokkaido

The snowfall in Japan is remarkable not only in quantity but also in reliability; you can certainly get much bigger and deeper snow dumps in coastal systems such as Whistler or New Zealand…. but, what Japan offers is a level of reliability of powder snow that’s unmatched anywhere else in the world. If you’re booking a dream ski holiday, that reliability counts for a lot! In this post, I’m going to share a bit about the underlying mechanisms that make Japan’s snow system so good. I’ll share some pointers on when and where to make your trip to maximize the chances of daily dumps of deep, dry powder. Finally, I’ll share some resources to use to track the weather while you’re in Japan. We’ll also share some deeper dive reading material such as academic papers if you want to learn more. KEY POINTS With a lake effect operating at a massive oceanic scale, Japan produces some of the world’s best snow. Cold, dry Siberian air picks up great amounts of moisture before being dumped on coastal mountains as high quality powder snow. The lowland satoyuki effect in Hokkaido holds the snowclouds in place longer, emphasizing this ‘lake effect’. FYI, Japan offers some excellent weather forecasting tools, from basic to very advanced, including the Japan Met Agency’s ‘nowcasts’. LAKE EFFECT AT OCEANIC SCALE The key to the massive snow fall in Japan is that it is heavily driven by ‘lake effect’ snow. But, this isn’t like the lake effect snow of North America’s Great Lakes region, or the famous Salt Lake City powder snows of the Wasatch range. Japan’s lake effect snow is really ‘sea effect’ snow… and that means bigger, deeper dumps. Lake effect snow occurs when cold, dry air passes over a relatively warm water body. Water evaoporates, saturating the air and also warming it. As the air rises, often helped by flowing up and over hills or mountains, it cools and precipitates the moisture as snow. The recipe is simple: Cold, dry air Relatively warm body of water Wind over hils causing lifting and cooling#hokkaido