Spent the winter of 20-21 in Aomori and 21-22/22-23 in Otaru. Otaru is a bedroom community of Sapporo but gets even more snow, thanks to its coastal location. Never once checked models. It snowed almost continuously from mid Dec to March. I grew up in Baltimore, then gradually traded up my snow climo, to NYC, then Montana, then Aomori, and finally Otaru. Otaru was probably the pinnacle. Well, there are a few small towns between Sapporo and Asahikawa that get more, like Iwamizawa and Bibai.
I once again live in a ski resort town in Montana, and the climate here is way, way worse. This is a mental illness... lol.