Menacing clouds

Pu`u Poliahu at sunset.

The clouds are still high and above summit level, they were forced up to this height by sun-driven convection during the day. They'll disappear after sunset as the mountain stops being heated directly by the sun although on the odd occasion they'll hang around and cause us problems for a few hours. Sometimes, especially during the winter, they'll drift over us and ice everything up from the dome to our vehicles and then perhaps the road itself.

We tend to evacuate before the road becomes dangerously iced because we don't want to be trapped at the summit, it's not the most pleasant place to spend a couple of days as a few people have found out in the past. During the summer, however, the ice will hardly ever be bad enough to force an evacuation.

In the south towards Mauna Loa the clouds look even more threatening.