Unexpected snowfall for climbers

KOTA KINABALU: Dozens of climbers on Mount Kinabalu experienced a rare snow phenomenon around the summit.

Kinabalu Park deputy director Justinus Guntapid said climbers and guides experience “snowing” along their trail from the Sayat Sayat (Km7) trail to the summit at about 6.40am yesterday.

“It lasted between two to three minutes during what was seen by witnesses as a light rain,” he said when contacted.

He said the “snowing” phenomena was not the first as their records showed that it had occurred in 1975 and 1993.

“There might have been more incidents but they were unrecorded as they may have happened during hours when no one was on the summit area,” he added.

On the latest episode, Justinus said that the general temperature on the summit area was recorded at between 6.9 degrees Celsius (2am) and 12 degrees Celsius (10am).

“We had 154 climbers and also guides in the area. Many of them witnessed it and recorded the snow fall,” he said.

He explained that they reported that it was soft and snow-like during what they described as “light rain”.

Guides and climbers were surprised when they saw snow flakes on the mountain.

“It was a sudden and surprising experience for many of them on the mountain,” Justinus said.

He said that they thought it was sleet which had occurred previously and that the “pieces” coming down were very light.

However, the “snow” evaporated upon touching the granite surfaces.

Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) director general Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said the weather phenomenon that occurred on Mount Kinabalu was snow, based on the altitude of the location and low temperature of the area.

“It is not an impossible thing to happen for highlands like Mount Kinabalu because when the air temperature reaches zero degrees Celsius or below that temperature, snow can form provided there is sufficient humidity.

“So usually what happens is that we can see ‘frost’ which is a lump of ice that is on the surface of the earth, usually on cold rocks,” he said.