Hokkaido Trivia – 2022-2023 Winter in Hokkaido

It’s mid-November and many places in Hokkaido have had their first snow falls for this season. Sapporo, the capital city, is expected to see the first snow for this winter on November 14 or 18.   

Today I thought I’ll summarize how this winter is expected to be in Hokkaido per the data (for November ’22 to January ’23) by the Japan Meteorological Agency. They’re just perspectives, but might help you to plan your winter trips and activities.  

I’ve attached the average temperature and snowfall for 1991-2020 underneath for your reference.

Areas along the Sea of Japan (in west) and the Okhotsk Sea (in northeast) are expecting average amount of snow, but there may be some exceptions of days with heavy snow fall. Temperature will be around average with some exceptionally cold days.

On the other hand, the Pacific Ocean side will have sunny days with average temperature. Amount of snow will be about the same as average years.

February, in Abashiri and some other places along the Okhotsk Sea, can be the coldest month of the year when we’re surrounded by ice in the ocean (imagine being inside a freezer).  It’s also the month of winter events in Hokkaido, such as Sapporo Snow Festival, Sounkyo Icefall Festival and Abashiri’s drift ice. Let’s see how the weather comes out to be in February!

rf. website of Japan Meteorological Agency  https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/index.html