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> As temperatures rise, snowfall across the west side of Japan should decrease, Kawase reported, in a November 2013 study published in the Journal of Geophysica

> As temperatures rise, snowfall across the west side of Japan should decrease, Kawase reported, in a November 2013 study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. But the decrease will be much more pronounced at lower elevations, such as Toyama, where much of the city’s snow falls with temperatures near the freezing mark. A few degrees warmer here will make a big difference. Higher elevations will likely continue to have exceptionally snowy winters, at least in the short term. Still, the culture of Japan’s Snow Country may already be changing. > “I remember when I was in high school there was a lot more snow,” says Tanikawa, who is now 50. “In the morning snow fell and it would fall all day while we were at school. When I came back home there would be 40 to 50 centimeters of snow to clear. My children,” Tanikawa adds, “have not had that experience.” I live on the west coast of Japan at the foot of the mountains, and it's striking how much snowfall is decreasing in recent years. The last two years have been record setting due to lack of snowfall. The local municipal ski resort didn't open at all this past winter, and for the annual snow festival in February they had to truck in some snow from somewhere else. Since temperatures here tend to hover just around freezing in the winter, a small temperature difference can mean the difference between rain or 50 cm of snow. Year-to-year differences are becoming more variable, too. Three years ago we were buried in so much snow that the city had to send in a team with heavy duty snow machines to dig us out (typically neighborhoods here are self-sufficient in terms of snow removal). We had about 2 meters piled up in our yard. But these past two years it was mostly just rain. On the one hand, it's very convenient to not have to deal with so much snow in the winter. And the mountains nearby still receive plenty of snow for skiing and other recreation. But it does feel like a part of what makes this area special is vanishing. And I'm sad that my kids won't be able to experience it to the same degree.

grecy 6y ago
A couple of years ago the capital of Alaska recorded zero snowfall for an entire winter. First time in recorded history.
tlear 6y ago
Japan has massive variability in snow amounts depending on area in same year. This is because vast majority of snow is from lake effect of Siberian highs passing over Sea of Japan and hitting mountains. Depends on exact angle different places get different amount, micro climate is king. Last year in Nozawa was late, January was bad. But actual total amounts were far from bad. Year before was an amazing year in Hakuba and Nozawa. I was skiing powder in April, knee deep. My Ski app shows I skied 15 powder days that season. Charmant Hiuchi had also late year but huge dumps in March. Truth is that many of the Japanese resorts Under report their snowfall, most customers are Japanese and intermediate/beginners they do not want to wake up to a knee deep on piste snow. So you get them reporting 10cm where it is more like 30. During ski bubble a ton of resorts were built that should not have been. Really really bad spots. They are mostly dead by now, but there are still some chugging along, they always had crap snow, but because normal wait time for lift at good resorts was measured in hours back then people built them and made some money. One more fun fact the warmer the sea is the better the lake effect. Places like Hakuba might get more snow at higher elevation then before as sea warms up. All their snow is from blow over from 3k peaks that have temperatures more in -20 range so small warmup will do nothing to them.

grecy 6y ago

A couple of years ago the capital of Alaska recorded zero snowfall for an entire winter. First time in recorded history.

tlear 6y ago

Japan has massive variability in snow amounts depending on area in same year. This is because vast majority of snow is from lake effect of Siberian highs passing over Sea of Japan and hitting mountains. Depends on exact angle different places get different amount, micro climate is king. Last year in Nozawa was late, January was bad. But actual total amounts were far from bad. Year before was an amazing year in Hakuba and Nozawa. I was skiing powder in April, knee deep. My Ski app shows I skied 15 powder days that season. Charmant Hiuchi had also late year but huge dumps in March. Truth is that many of the Japanese resorts Under report their snowfall, most customers are Japanese and intermediate/beginners they do not want to wake up to a knee deep on piste snow. So you get them reporting 10cm where it is more like 30. During ski bubble a ton of resorts were built that should not have been. Really really bad spots. They are mostly dead by now, but there are still some chugging along, they always had crap snow, but because normal wait time for lift at good resorts was measured in hours back then people built them and made some money. One more fun fact the warmer the sea is the better the lake effect. Places like Hakuba might get more snow at higher elevation then before as sea warms up. All their snow is from blow over from 3k peaks that have temperatures more in -20 range so small warmup will do nothing to them.