Tenki and Yuki Diary 2 Mar 08

Hakuba has 230cm of snowfall remaining before we hit he annual average of 11m.

Know the weather = know the snow pack = know the stability.  For previous weather and snow reports use the Diary link at the top of the page.

Steep Deep Japan Hakuba  weather data for the 24 hours to 7am for 860m asl Max temp -2C, min temp -5C and  -4C at 7am. 15cm of new snow in the last 24 hours with a  high density of 76kg/m3 (8.3% water).  Depth of snow 224cm after settlement. It has stopped snowing, this latest storm brought 43cm of new snow at the weather study plot (after settlement).  Barometer is steady at 913mbar after rising during the night.  Wind aloft is light from the SW. The sky is has about 80% cloud cover.

Field observations:  I didn't travel in the backcountry yesterday.  Reports from the field indicated moderate winds from the NW and during the early evening there were strong gusts in the valley.  Snow fell the entire day with no sunshine.  

Please refer to the Hakuba backcountry travel advisory from the guides at Evergreen Outdoors. (Frequency of update is unreliable)