Watch how the storm finishes, not only how it starts. When cold air spilling over the Tohoku spine is the pattern to watch, the live numbers usually matter most in the first lift window. With a 640 to 1350 metre elevation band and 710 metres of vertical, the bigger vertical gives you room to move higher when the lower runs soften. A seasonal baseline around 9 metres means small clean refills matter more than waiting for a giant number. The swing variable is the freezing level, because the top can stay cold while the lower runs turn heavy. With patrol boundaries in play, focus on how the inbounds snow will hold through the first half of the day. Chase it when 10 to 20 cm arrives cold overnight; skip it when warmth follows close behind.
See which resorts in Iwate are getting the best 24 hour totals and the next two days of snow.
