KOTA KINABALU – The viral incident atop Mount Kinabalu today was sleet or frozen raindrops rather than snowflakes, said climatologist Ramzah Dambul.
Stating that there was nothing irregular in its occurrence, Ramzah said sleet happens when frozen droplets are unable to melt on time before hitting the ground, especially in high and cold areas.
Ramzah said frozen raindrops are quite common in Malaysia and are identified as “hujan batu” in Malay, adding that sleet is seen flying in the video because of the strong wind conditions on the mountain.
“If it were real snow, the flakes would not have drifted the way it did. Snow is very light and does not drop directly as seen in the viral video.
“Snowflakes are very light and they drift like leaves when falling. This is definitely sleet,” he told The Vibes after studying the viral video.
He added the temperature on Mount Kinabalu’s summit can drop to freezing levels at times, which explains why sleet could sometimes form atop the summit.
Ramzah’s response comes after a group of climbers early this morning were elated after experiencing what appeared to be snow falling on the mountain.
A video capturing the moment was taken by 46-year-old mount climbing trainer Hajiris Sulomin, who shared the video on the Mountain Torq Facebook page.
He noted that the incident happened around 6.50am this morning while he was taking a group on an excursion at the Via Ferrata.
Sabah Park ranger Julaimin Kamin told The Vibes the “snowing” incident occurred for about two minutes from 6.40am to 6.42am at Sayat-Sayat, some 8.72km from the summit of Mount Kinabalu.
There were 164 climbers on the mountain when the “snow” started to fall.
“The average temperature during the time of incident was around 6.9°C to 12.3°C,” he told The Vibes.
Snowing had also been recorded in 1975 and 1993 at Mount Kinabalu previously, he said.
Sabah Parks director Maklarin Lakim also confirmed the incident, adding that the park received numerous queries about the matter after the video went viral.
“Yes, it happened this morning.
“Maybe due to the phenomena where the earth’s location is far away from the sun now and this made the earth cooler than usual,” he speculated. – The Vibes, February 28, 2022
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