SAN JOSE, Calif. — A huge slab of ice and snow slides off the huge domed roof of the Great Refractor telescope at Mount Hamilton’s Lick Observatory and smashes thunderously to the asphalt.
“Don’t stand too close to the dome,” warns resident astronomer Elinor Gates, who has worked for 25 years at the research station atop the Bay Area’s highest peak. “That would’ve hurt.”
Mount Hamilton and Lick’s nine telescopes spread out over a half-mile of ridges and peaks east of San Jose have received more than 5 feet of snow this winter. Historical data is incomplete, but that amount is either the largest of any winter since record keeping began in 1947 or close to it, said National Weather Service meteorologist Dalton Behringer. After the latest series of storms began delivering heavy snow on Feb. 24, more than 4 feet have fallen on the mountaintop. “It’s definitely unusual to have that amount in this short a time,” Behringer said.
