Snow flying. Bad idea?

[VenomXts]

We are currently getting snow in the mountains of NC. Is a short flight close to the home point for pictures a bad idea?

risk and reward. simple as that. Dont get much snow.... but some awesome rain shots.

 

[D_The_Producer]

We are currently getting snow in the mountains of NC. Is a short flight close to the home point for pictures a bad idea?

Hi! I wrote an article for Droneblog about flying the Mini 2 in adverse weather conditions. It might help you with this matter.
As @msinger said, DJI won't honor the warranty in these conditions, be aware of that.

Best of luck!

How Does Weather Affect the DJI Mini 2? (With 30 Tips)

 

[Yaros]

Why not in Sport Mode? Just wondering.

In cold temperatures, the batteries are strained more. At least the first 3 minutes of flight you should fly very smoothly, it would be perfect to hover the first minute or fly in cine mode, the 2nd and 3rd minute the battery is a little warmer, you can start flying in normal mode, no issues should appear. Sport mode can create a voltage sag on one of the cells, if the voltage drops (even momentarily) below 3.0V it will initiate a non-cancellable fast forced landing.
I learned this the hard way. I was flying back in sport mode over a river (2km away) at temperature -20°C (-4°F) and the voltage sag happened to 3.2V per cell, almost force landing in the river. So just don't risk it, don't fly in sport mode in cold temps (below freezing).

Both in DJI Go and DJI Fly Apps (and also in some 3rd party apps like Litchi), there is a way to monitor the battery temperature. In DJI Fly is in the three dots menu on the top, Safety, Battery Info; in DJI Go/Go4 I don't know because I don't use it, google if you want; in Litchi you just click on the battery percentage indicator.

Here is my guide on battery temperature:
Less than 10°C (50°F) - Don't take off, heat your battery with your hands or inside, when going outside keep it in something that will keep it warm, like inside your jacket.

10°C - 20°C (50°F - 68°F) - You can takeoff, hover or slowly fly in cine/tripod mode. Don't go high or far away, the battery is not very stable yet, voltage sag can happen if you demand a high current, for example, if you ascend fast or go forward very fast. The perfect option would be to hover in one place and wait for the battery temp to rise above 20°C (68°F).

20°C - 30°C (68°F - 85°F) - You can ascend and fly normally, fly in normal or cine mode only, don't use sport mode. The drone should behave normally, but it might brake slowly, be careful.

More than 30°C (85°F) - You can try sport mode, but very carefully. Open the battery info tab, you will see the voltages there, with that tab open you can try to accelerate in sport mode, slowly increasing speed. If you see voltage sag (voltage drops below 3.3V) on any of the cells, don't freak out and release the stick, because that will guarantee a force landing, instead slowly decrease speed, then you know that you shouldn't fly in sport mode again in that flight, it is just too cold outside for the drone battery to behave well in sport mode at that ambient temperature outside.

Note: Relatively new batteries (with less than 100 charge cycles), if kept with good care shouldn't have voltage drops on any of the cells, but that doesn't mean that it can't happen, because it can on any battery, it almost happened to me on a battery with 80 charge cycles, kept with good care.

 

[John Locke]

Not saying to do it but yes it can be done with no added equipment. Never had a problem in the 7 years I have been flying in the snow. Making sure your drone gets dried off after use by putting it near a forced air duct helps dry it off.
Like I said not telling you to do it, thats up to you. Your money, your decision

Nice change video. I've done similar videos with Litchi, but nowhere close to your quality. Very nice job of editing. I look for opportunities to fly in light snow,. No problem with my stock Mavic 2, Mini 2 or Air 2S. Unfortunately my opportunities are few in SoCal.

 

[Spectre22]

You can do it, but you have to make sure it's dry snow, not wet, slushy Georgia stuff (Michigan technical terms). At least in the mid 20's degrees.

Very nice work!

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

Nice change video. I've done similar videos with Litchi, but nowhere close to your quality. Very nice job of editing. I look for opportunities to fly in light snow,. No problem with my stock Mavic 2, Mini 2 or Air 2S. Unfortunately my opportunities are few in SoCal.

Thanks! Take a short drive to Michigan... we've got plenty. Take some home with you.

 

[Kentucky Ranger]

I haven’t done it, yet, but my logic is, it should be a light dry snow, and should be done in the mid 20s.
Let your drone acclimate to the cold, so the snow may stick, but won’t melt to the gimbal.
Once the flight is over, take some canned air, and lightly blow any snow away from the gimbal and surrounding parts.
Just be aware, and it should be an awesome flight!

 

[Yaros]

I haven’t done it, yet, but my logic is, it should be a light dry snow, and should be done in the mid 20s.
Let your drone acclimate to the cold, so the snow may stick, but won’t melt to the gimbal.
Once the flight is over, take some canned air, and lightly blow any snow away from the gimbal and surrounding parts.
Just be aware, and it should be an awesome flight!

In my experience, the propellers will blow the snow out from the top of the drone if the snow is not wet.

 

[cheddar-man]

DJI Mini 2 operating temperature 0ºC (32ºF) - 40ºC (104ºF)
Even at 0ºC the battery will not be very efficient and you should just hover the drone for a few minutes to let the battery warm up.

 

[Kentucky Ranger]

DJI Mini 2 operating temperature 0ºC (32ºF) - 40ºC (104ºF)
Even at 0ºC the battery will not be very efficient and you should just hover the drone for a few minutes to let the battery warm up.

M2 Pro is 14f ~104f so it’s very safe to fly in 20f weather.
The battery on the other hand, needs to be kept warm, and put into the drone just before takeoff, after the drone has had a chance to acclimate to its surroundings.