KOTA KINABALU: After almost 29 years, the snow phenomenon at the highest peak in Southeast Asia, Mount Kinabalu, re-emerged early this morning.
Although it lasted for only about two minutes, the unusual phenomenon was enough to make the mountain guides and climbers at the top feel excited.
Mountain guide and via-ferrata trainee, Hajiri Sulumin, 47, said it was his second experience of seeing snow fall on the summit of Mount Kinabalu and the first time in 2018.
"This morning, it snowed while I was at the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint. It lasted for about two to three minutes only.
"The incident happened at about 7.18 am and I knew it was snowing because it was light. If it was hail, it would be heavier," he said.
Meanwhile, Kinabalu Park Manager, Justinus Guntabid said, based on records, the phenomenon had occurred on Mount Kinabalu in 1975 and the last time in 1993.
He said, a few years ago there was said to be a snow phenomenon but, it was actually just a freezing process.
"But this morning it was snowing. It lasted only about 2 minutes. Snow can be seen from Sayat-Sayat to the summit of Kinabalu at Kilometer 8.72.
"The temperature recorded in Panalaban between 2 and 10 this morning was about 6.9 to 12 degrees Celsius, colder than usual and I believe the peak temperature is much colder than in Panalaban," he said.
Elaborating further, he said, the average humidity recorded during the same period was 52 to 62 percent and this meant it was more humid than usual, which was around 70 percent.
Justinus said the climbers who were at the top this morning were the lucky ones because the phenomenon is very rare.
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