Journal of the Japanese Society of Snow and Ice

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Daily distributions of the snow water equivalent in several 1×1 km 2 grids in the Tohoku region, Japan, were calculated for 27 winters between 1980 and 2007 by the simple snowmelt model (Motoya et al.2001) from routine meteorological data. Moreover, the quasi-climatic distributions of snow water were estimated from the 27-year average. The 27-year average cubic volume of total snow water amount at maximum was estimated to 26.1 km3 and the standard deviation of its long-term changes was estimated to 5.2 km3. The seasonal change in the total snow water in the heavy snowfall 2005-2006 winter of was similar in terms of the early growth of snow amount to the winter of 1980-81 that witnessed heavy snowfall ; however, the positive anomalies in coastal areas along the Japan Sea were more dominant in the winter of 2005-2006 than in that of 1980-1981. During the light snowfall 2006-2007 winter of , the negative anomalies of snow water in the Niigata region were larger than those of the light snowfall winter of 1980-1981; however, it has been found that the mountainous areas in the north of the Tohoku region witnessed an ordinary snow amount in the snowmelt season.

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Slab avalanches occurred at Mt. Kamihorokamettoku in Hokkaido Prefecture in November 2007. The first slab avalanche occurred on the western slope of Mt. Kamihorokamettoku on November 13, 2007, and one person was caught in the avalanche. On November 23, 2007, persons were caught in a slab avalanche that occurred on the northern slope of the ridge of Mt. Kamihorokamettoku, and persons were killed. The Hokkaido branch of the Japanese Society of Snow and Ice (JSSI) dispatched an avalanche research team, which had been newly organized during the winter of 2007-2008, to Mt. Kamihorokamettoku. The research team consisted of researchers and mountain guides who ensure the safety of the team. Field investigations were carried out on November 17 and 25 in order to determine the avalanche characteristics and snow structures. The existence of weak layers was confirmed by pit observations. The weak layers of both the western slope and northern slope avalanches consisted of faceted crystals depth hoar crystals

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