Well the last week of weather has been fairly disappointing for Nozawa. The forecast snow last Thursday didn’t materialise and although nearby Hakuba had a great dump it bypassed Nozawa and prevented the mountain from opening as planned.
There are a couple of low pressure systems lining Japan up over the next week. The first will arrive with significant moisture on Thursday. It should move through in approximately 24 hours leaving clear skies in its wake. Unfortunately this low has its origins down by the Phillipines and because of its tropical nature it is a fairly warm airmass and heavy rain instead of snow is likely even at the top of Nozawa.
The next system doesn’t look like arriving until the following Tuesday. It is developing over China and should move Southeast to lie in the Sea of Japan by Tuesday night. This will certainly bring colder air to the region but how much moisture will be present is the great unknown. I would imagine this will provide more snow to Hokkaido than to Honshu.
Looks like we may have to wait a little while longer for a good dump of snow!!