Snow on Mauna Kea

[TomK]

Tink - good question. I can only really speak for UKIRT, and we simply have to let the sun melt the ice. Some areas can be scraped clear of ice, but some areas remain inaccessible until the dome can be rotated. As you can imagine, we have to wait for the ice to melt on the dome tracks before that happens otherwise we could cause serious damage. The top of the dome is an issue too, as the ice has to be cleared from that region as well or else risk large blocks of ice falling onto the primary mirror.

Unfortunately, the winds were westerlies, so the worst ice build up is on the west side of the dome which only gets sunlight towards the end of the day, so we'll likely remain closed for a few more days even if the weather is good.

If we can get up there tomorrow (the road is still impassable) we'll asses the situation then, and again on Saturday.