KOTA KINABALU: Did it snow at Mount Kinabalu just before dawn on Jan 17 when temperatures dipped to -3°C?
A report submitted to Sabah Parks by their head ranger Martin Mogurin indicated that there were signs of snow at the summit area of the 4,101m-high mountain along the Crocker Range around 4am.
Martin said guides at the mountain submitted a report but were unable to back it up with pictures as it was dark. Sabah Parks officials are trying to verify the report.
Sabah Parks chairman Tengku Zainal Adlin, who has climbed every face of Mount Kinabalu in the last five decades, is not surprised over the snow report.
Zainal said that ice on the mountain was common, especially in the early hours of the morning.
Sabah Parks director Paul Basintal said he was gathering information but he has his doubts about the snow.
Sabah meteorologists, however, are firm in dismissing any possibility of snow on Mount Kinabalu as it was too close to the Equator.
“Ice occurrence, yes, but snow? Not possible,’’ said Sabah Meteorological Department director Abdul Malik Tussin.
He said Sabah has been experiencing cold weather due to the annual Siberian winds coupled with high amount of rain due to the usually wet northeast monsoon season and a low atmospheric pressure over Sabah.