Start with overnight snowfall and wind direction. 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 1070 metre elevation band and 430 metres of vertical, the sheltered trees make modest reloads feel deeper than the raw number. A seasonal baseline around 15 metres means the headline numbers can be real storm signals rather than background noise. The swing variable is wind: light flow lets the trees refill, while a hard blast strips the exposed entrances. Use the access rules on the day as the limit, then let the wind and temperature decide how far to push it. Chase it when 15 to 25 cm lands overnight with light to moderate wind; if gusts climb, make it a sheltered-tree day.
See which resorts in Iwate are getting the best 24 hour totals and the next two days of snow.
