The effects of La Niña on the Central Hokkaido (incl Furano) region
With a winning 62% chance of an above-average
season, Central Hokkaido wins the La Niña wars!
With a 62% chance of outperforming an average year, the Central Hokkaio region (which encompasses such areas as Kamui Ski Links and Furano) comes in first place for the likelihood of an above-average snow dump this winter! Hooray for them!
The conclusion:
Between 1954 and 2014, JMA recorded an average annual snowfall in the Asahikawa region of 617cm. During the 13 La Niña cycles listed below, 5 years had snowfall below the average and 8 years had snowfall above the average, indicating that an La Niña cycle in the Asahikawa region is historically likely to produce above-average snowfall conditions!
The conclusion:
Between 1954 and 2014, JMA recorded an average annual snowfall in the Asahikawa region of 617cm. During the 13 La Niña cycles listed below, 5 years had snowfall below the average and 8 years had snowfall above the average, indicating that an La Niña cycle in the Asahikawa region is historically likely to produce above-average snowfall conditions!
The data
Chart Analysis
The blue line in the chart below denotes how much snowfall was recorded by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) for the time span of 1953 to 2014 (years located on the X-axis). The intersecting orange bars indicate La Niña years recorded by JMA for Japan.
While some La Niña years such as 1968, 1972, and 2008 show a decline in snowfall during La Niña period, other years such as 1965, 1996, and 2000 suggest that La Niña years significantly outperformed the average.
How does central Hokkaido compare to other regions in Japan?
Other mumbo-jumbo
The first thing you should note about this chart is that the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) doesn't have a weather station closer to Furano than Asahikawa (from what this investigator could figure out). While Asahiwaka is relatively close, it does get significantly less snow than Furano. However, given that they're in the same region and prone to the same general weather influences, the data for Asahikawa may reflect the overall conditions and trends of Furano and other central Hokkaido ski resorts.
