FS2020 - Mt Fuji snow disappears in winter when Bing Data ON with Japan World Update (Snow appears when Bing OFF)

[ActingIce2673]

msfs-2020 ms-store

Platform: PC

Sim Version: Latest (please see attached screenshots)

Description:

After installing the Japan World Update, snow on Mt. Fuji no longer appears when Bing Data is enabled.

When Bing Data is disabled, snow appears correctly on the summit.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install Japan World Update.

2. Enable Online Functionality.

3. Enable Bing Data World Graphics.

4. Set the date to winter (or use Live Weather).

5. Fly to Mt. Fuji.

Result:

- Snow does NOT appear on Mt. Fuji.

Expected Result:

- Snow should appear on Mt. Fuji during winter conditions.

Test Results:

A) Japan World Update ON + Bing Data ON

→ Snow does NOT appear.

B) Japan World Update ON + Bing Data OFF

→ Snow appears correctly.

C) Online Functionality OFF

→ Snow appears (Bing Data is internally disabled).

D) Snow Weather Preset

→ Snow always appears.

Conclusion:

This issue seems to be related specifically to Bing Data combined with the Japan World Update.

Terrain/imagery data from Bing may be overriding or masking the seasonal snow on Mt. Fuji.

Additional Notes:

- This issue started after installing the Japan World Update.

- No third-party Mt. Fuji scenery addons installed.

- Manual cache cleared (if applicable).

Thank you.

[DementedCorn327]

@ActingIce2673

1. Install Japan World Update.

To which World Update are you referring to ?:

Could you add some screenshots?

[ActingIce2673]

Thank you so much for reply.

Unfortunately, I can’t see 'World update 20 JAPAN’

[DementedCorn327]

If you don’t see it in the content manager that means you have not downloaded it. Go to the Marketplace, search for World Update 20 and download it (it is free).
Test again the Mt Fuji but I think it will be same since I don’t remember having seen an enhancement for this POI in the WU20 release notes.

[ActingIce2673]

Thank you for the clarification.

I have checked both the Marketplace and the Content Manager.
Searching for “World Update 20” does not return any downloadable item.

However, Japan-related World Update content is already installed
and visible in the Content Manager when searching for “Japan”
(e.g. Japan POIs / Airports / Photogrammetry).

The snow issue on Mt. Fuji only occurs when Bing Data is enabled
while Japan World Update content is installed.
Disabling Bing Data restores the snow coverage.

Please let me know if there is a specific package name
I should be looking for.

[ActingIce2673]

Just to confirm my understanding:

Do you mean that even if the Japan World Update (WU20) is installed,

the result would likely be the same and Mt. Fuji snow would still not appear?

[DementedCorn327]

@ActingIce2673

I have checked both the Marketplace and the Content Manager.
Searching for “World Update 20” does not return any downloadable item.

Go to Marketplace and search using “world update 20 japan”, once identified you can install it:

@ActingIce2673

Do you mean that even if the Japan World Update (WU20) is installed,

the result would likely be the same and Mt. Fuji snow would still not appear?

Yes that’s what I mean since Mt Fuji is not listed: World Update 20: Japan - Points of Interest (POI) List. But worth to have WU20 installed for your tests.

[DementedCorn327]

When I disabled Bing data to try to replicate your steps, the graphics are gone:

Am I missing some steps ?, could you provide screenshots of the Mt Fuji with your Bing data off ?

[DementedCorn327]

Could you test with Bing data ON and Live Weather OFF (using January) ?

[ActingIce2673]

I found World Update 20: Japan in the Marketplace, so I installed it and tested again.
However, Mt. Fuji still does not show snow.

Test conditions:

• Live Weather: OFF
• Date: January

For comparison, when Bing Data is turned OFF under the same conditions,
Mt. Fuji shows snow correctly.

[ActingIce2673]

Note: The image order is reversed.

The first image shows Mt. Fuji with Bing Data turned OFF (snow visible),

and the second image shows Mt. Fuji with Bing Data turned ON (no snow).

[ActingIce2673]

Is this issue only happening to me?

I also noticed that the surrounding Japanese Southern Alps do not show snow either.

I would really like to see Beautiful Mt. Fuji properly covered in snow.

[ChaosRChao]

I have the same issue. It seems that MSFS2020 the Mt. Fuji always covered by snow, but in 2024 it always appeared with no snow covered.

[ActingIce2673]

Thanks for sharing.

Just to clarify, in my case this is still happening in MSFS 2020 as well.

Snow on Mt. Fuji appears only when Bing Data is turned OFF.

With Bing Data ON, snow is missing even in January with Live Weather OFF.

So it may be related to recent Bing terrain or snow mask data updates rather than the sim version itself.

[GimbalAxis]

I flew across Japan yesterday in MSFS 2024 (and a few flights recently), also disappointed to not see any snow.

I have MS Store, all world updates “owned”, nothing downloaded, all streamed (in other words, vanilla settings), and no addons except BeyondATC

[DementedCorn327]

Can replicate with Bing data enabled:
Live weather enabled, no snow:

Clear sky preset, month of January, no snow:

Disabling Bing data I am not obtaining same result as OP, no textures neither snow are displayed:
Live weather enabled, Bing map disabled, no snow:

Clear sky preset, Bing map disabled, month of January, no snow:

I have created a separate report for FS2024 since behaviour is different when using preset weather in winter: FS2024 - Mt Fuji snow disappears in winter when Live weather is enabled

Live Webcam showing snow:

[Jummivana]

Thank you for the bug report.

We have created an internal ticket to see if our team already has this logged, and if not they will attempt to reproduce the issue and create a new bug report. This item is now marked as feedback-logged. If there is an existing bug report or one is created, we will move this thread to bug-logged.

[ActingIce2673]

Thank you for the update.

I’m looking forward to seeing Mt. Fuji properly covered in snow.