It will be interesting to see just how much snow we do get. The Mauna Kea Weather Center is predicting a possible six inches. I do not plan on being on the summit until Friday. A white Christmas?
Tag: snow
The First Storm of Winter on Mauna Kea
It is currently snowing on the summit. Not just a dusting this time, but a real blanket of white on the mountain. Poliʻahu has returned to the summit. The forecast is calling for up to three inches of white before tomorrow morning.
We just got word that the Keck summit crew is abandoning the summit. They are leaving before the conditions get worse.
A photo from a UKIRT webcam is below. I would post one from our Keck cameras, but the camera windows are covered with blown snow and ice. I have a new all-weather webcam, a full pan-tilt-zoom unit to install, but it is still sitting in a box at the summit. Personally I am not planning being up until Wednesday, I wonder if the snow will still be there, fresh snow on the mountain is always pretty.
Postcard from the Summit – Subaru in the Snow
Postcard from the Summit – Moonset
Winter Sky over the Telescopes
A Little More Snow
A Bit of Snow
Snow Day
It was a snow day at the summit. We arrived to a new layer of snow atop the snow that had been accumulating all weekend, about 8 inches in total. It continued to snow much of the day, sometimes heavy. By the time we left the total was closer to a foot of white atop the mountain.
Instructions from summit lead were clear, start nothing we could not put away in a few moments in case the decision to abandon the summit was made. Despite this I did get some productive things done… Fixed the K1 Laser Safety System, an easy fix, helped perform a maintenance check on the MOSFIRE rotator, and arranged some fabrication for a camera mount in the K1 dome.
John made the call to leave the summit just before 3pm, as conditions began to worsen and the temperature started falling again. Observing was officially cancelled about the same time, the nighttime operators would not attempt to make the summit. An interesting day. What will we find tomorrow?
A Bit of Snow in the Way
Snow on Mauna Loa
