Hawaii summit blanketed in snow in rare cold snap

Hawaii's highest acme has been blanketed successful snowfall aft the tropical hotspot was deed with a uncommon acold snap. 

Social media was swept with images of the Mauna Kea volcano arsenic it was covered successful a heavy furniture of snowfall this week. 

Residents who are much utilized to sunny days connected the formation and abrogation upwind person alternatively been near with terrible question restrictions and icy roads. 

Meteorologists said the wintertime scenery crossed Hawaii is the effect of freezing temperatures blowing successful from the water gathering with moisture successful the air. 

Maureen Ballard, a elder meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) successful Honolulu, told the Associated Press that an 'upper-level disturbance' successful the ambiance brought acold temperatures toward Hawaii. 

She said moisture came successful from the eastbound astatine the aforesaid time, and a 'combination of acold temperatures and moisture equals snowfall erstwhile it's beneath freezing.' 

NWS meteorologist Liam Tsamous told Newsweek that it's not yet known however overmuch snowfall has fallen connected high-elevation peaks. That's chiefly due to the fact that determination are nary reflection stations up successful those areas, helium explained.

However, helium said up to 4 inches of rainfall fell connected low-elevation areas, with Hawaii present entering its 'wet season' that volition past until April. 

The astir stunning images of Hawaii's snowfall came connected the Mauna Kea volcano, the highest upland successful Hawaii astatine astir 14,000 feet supra oversea level. 

It is the tallest highest successful the world, adjacent taller than Mount Everest, if it is measurement from its base, which extends astir 20,000 feet beneath oversea level.

The volcano, owed to its elevation, has adjacent been known to autumn nether blizzard warnings successful the wintertime months. 

Tsamous, portion not commenting connected whether Mauna Kea is presently snow-capped, said the volcano often gets snowfall during October.

The dense rain, arsenic good arsenic blowing snow, contiguous a information for Hawaiians successful low-lying areas, according to the forecast pushed by the NWS erstwhile snowfall fell astatine the commencement of the week. 

'An precocious debased successful the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands is producing unstable conditions wrong a precise moist atmosphere,' the forecast read. 

'This volition effect successful periods of mean to locally dense showers. Rain that occurs implicit already saturated crushed could rapidly pb to runoff and flash flooding issues.'

The past clip Hawaii was deed with snowfall was successful aboriginal December 2023.

At the time, snowfall was seen connected the apical of Big Island's highest mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, some of which operation astir 14,000 feet supra oversea level.

In all, astir 5 inches of snowfall was recorded.