Early short-rain snow

Snow conditions on Kibo have changed considerably over the past 10 days, as shown in the timelapse above. Very little seasonal snow was present on 16 October, nicely revealing the current distribution of glacier ice. Five days later the entire summit was blanketed by snow. A second-hand report from our friend Simon Mtuy indicates that the snowline on the 18th was below Kibo hut. (Simon's wonderful company is SENE).

Between the 21st and 26th, ablation of new snow appears to have dominated over additional accumulation. However, note extensive snow below the Western Breach on the 26 October image; this may have resulted from localized convection, typical on that side of the mountain. Simon was on the mountain last week, so it will be interesting to hear his observations. Low on the mountain (i.e., below 1800 m) he reports nearly non-stop rain since the beginning of October - an early beginning to the short-rains season!