It’s snowing!

Not in Leiden, obviously, but it is on the Königstuhl mountain next to the city of Heidelberg, Germany. Near the top of this 567-metre high mountain (1859 ft.) lies the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), where I’m visiting a colleague for a week.

We already got some snow yesterday morning, but at only half an inch, it wasn’t too exciting. The more interesting bit yesterday was the dense fog hovering over the upper part of the mountain. The clouds were hanging so low that they covered the MPIA, and much of the Königstuhl, like a thick grey blanket. With visibility down to about 50 metres (160 ft.), the bus driver must have had a hard time hauling his vehicle up the slopes. Making it even tougher is the fact that some of the roads are essentially single lane, and the bus can only pass oncoming traffic at specific passing places. That can be tricky already in clear weather. Fortunately, no accidents occurred.

This morning, as we started up the mountain, there was quite a bit of white visible amongst the greens and browns of the forest at the top. Ascending further, it turned out to be a lot more than yesterday. A good four inches had fallen overnight, making for a truly beautiful landscape. The road was still in good condition, as it had been well cleared and salted. The clouds are hanging higher than yesterday, so I have a great view from my office now. It’s a shame I have to work today.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 09:11 and is filed under Science: Astronomy, Travelling, Weather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.