Best airport cams for snow and winter
Summer is for watching aircraft. Winter is for watching airports. When it snows, the interesting part is everything on the ground: the ploughs running in formation, the de-icing trucks, the wait to see whether the next arrival gets in.
These are the cams to open between December and March, or whenever the forecast for one of them looks bad.
CTS1. New Chitose Airport
🇯🇵 Sapporo, Japan
Hokkaido gets enormous amounts of snow, and New Chitose still runs one of the busiest routes in the world to Tokyo. Watch for the clearing teams sweeping a runway between arrivals. It's the best winter operation on our list.
Watch the CTS live cam →
YUL2. Montréal–Trudeau International Airport
🇨🇦 Montreal, Canada
Two cameras, one on each parallel runway, and a proper Canadian winter. The cold here is serious enough that de-icing is a routine part of nearly every departure for months.
Watch the YUL live cam →
GOH3. Nuuk Airport
🇬🇱 Nuuk, Greenland
Greenland's capital, with a runway long enough for jets only since late 2024. In midwinter there are just a few hours of low daylight, and the weather can close in within minutes.
Watch the GOH live cam →
JHS4. Sisimiut Airport
🇬🇱 Sisimiut, Greenland
North of the Arctic Circle, with a runway about 800 metres long. A few turboprops a day land between snow-covered mountains and the sea. In December it's dark for most of the day.
Watch the JHS live cam →
JJU5. Qaqortoq Airport
🇬🇱 Qaqortoq, Greenland
South Greenland, two cameras looking opposite ways along a new runway. Few flights, a lot of weather, and on clear dark nights a chance of northern lights.
Watch the JJU live cam →
LHD6. Lake Hood Seaplane Base
🇺🇸 Anchorage, United States
In summer this is a lake full of floatplanes. In winter it freezes, the floats come off, the skis go on, and the same pilots land on the ice.
Watch the LHD live cam →
OBO7. Tokachi-Obihiro Airport
🇯🇵 Obihiro, Japan
The quiet side of Hokkaido. Clear, bitterly cold mornings over snow-covered farmland, with a couple of Tokyo flights to break the stillness.
Watch the OBO live cam →
GAJ8. Yamagata Airport
🇯🇵 Yamagata, Japan
Deep in Japan's snow country. Hardly any flights, but when a storm comes through, the runway disappears and reappears as the ploughs work.
Watch the GAJ live cam →
MMJ9. Shinshu Matsumoto Airport
🇯🇵 Matsumoto, Japan
Japan's highest airport. The runway itself often stays clear while the Northern Alps behind it are white from top to bottom, which makes for the best winter backdrop of the lot.
Watch the MMJ live cam →
MKE10. Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport
🇺🇸 Milwaukee, United States
Snow off Lake Michigan arrives fast and heavy. A good one to watch when a Midwest storm is in the news.
Watch the MKE live cam →
TVL11. Lake Tahoe Airport
🇺🇸 South Lake Tahoe, United States
A mountain valley at nearly 1,900 metres. After a big Sierra storm the camera shows very little except snow and, eventually, a business jet arriving for the skiing.
Watch the TVL live cam →
A tip for snow days: check the airport's local time before you open a stream. Clearing work is hard to see in the dark, and the Greenland cams get very little daylight in midwinter.