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The unexpected snow atop Mt. Diablo, while beautiful, has marred a 46-year tradition.

The Mount Diablo chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association has decided to cancel its summit Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony today. Every year the group holds a ceremony and lights the beacon atop Mount Diablo. The beacon stays blinking until sunrise the next day to honor those who died at Pearl Harbor.

Even though the summit ceremony has been canceled due to this winter weather, the beacon will shine tonight, said Wayne Korsinen, an honorary member of the survivors group.

“The beacon will be lit, even if they have to hike up there,” said Korsinen Monday morning.

Every year, survivors of Pearl Harbor and others have gathered to pay tribute to the more than 2,000 who died in, and those who survived, the Japanese attack in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. Those who gather always light the beacon that was erected by Standard Oil in 1928 to help guide airplanes.

While the ceremony at the summit is canceled, Korsinen said the group still plans to hold a private ceremony just inside the gates of Mount Diablo on Northgate Road. That quick ceremony will include Pearl Harbor survivors and will start around 3 p.m., he said. Because the state park is closed to the public due to the snow, the ceremony is intended only for the small group, said Korsinen.

He said heard that snow has dampened the ceremony once before, in the 1970s.

“Everyone

is so happy (about the snow) except everybody who planned this — this one day out of the year,” he said.

Reach Elisabeth Nardi at 925-952-2617.