One of the most unlikely weather phenomenon for many Malaysians to anticipate ever experiencing locally is snow. After all, given how the country is situated along the tropical equator and temperatures often averaging a scorching 32-degrees Celsius on average, we simply don’t harbour the right kind of metrological conditions for snowfall to take place.
Social media users claim its snowing on Mount Kinabalu!
However, it would seem that may not necessarily be the case! At least, not for those who have been scaling the highest mountainous peak in the country, Mount Kinabalu. In a number of videos to have been uploaded across social media since early this morning (28th February 2022), social media users are apparently claiming that ‘snowfall’ has taken place atop the mountain, leading to delicate little tufts of pure-white ‘snow’ to feather down from the skies above!
In one of the clips, the man filming the entire incident could be excitedly exclaiming that it has begun snowing around Mount Kinabalu, before panning his phone’s camera around the surrounding area to capture the breathtaking moment. And to depict the snowfall more clearly, he even pans to the bright-red fabric of his jacket, which does appear to be dotted in white flecks.
A separate video that appears to be taken much closer to the peak of Mount Kinabalu similarly shows a group of spellbound climbers who marvelled at the incredibly rare weather phenomenon.
Clearer videos uploaded by TikTok user @ivnurjonns also show similar scenes of climbers being dusted with powdery white flecks of snow as they scaled up along the side of the famed mountain. The peaks themselves also appear to be covered in a thin sheet of snow as well.
Snowfall has only been recorded twice on the mountain
It is worth noting that while generally snowfall doesn’t happen in the country owning to its climate, there have been two separate instances of anomalous snowfall having been recorded at Mount Kinabalu; once in 1975, and another in 1993, according to doesitsnow,com. In fact, in 2020 some hikers had even found ice crystals forming in clumps on the mountain.
In an NST article from 2018, Kinabalu mountain guide association president Junaydie Sihan said that during particularly cold periods, ice and also something akin to the likes of frost can typically be seen on the mountain, but isn’t in fact snow.
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