It Just Snowed in Hawaii, But That's Not as Strange as It Might Seem

 Chris Dolce

Published: January 20, 2021

Snow blanketed a small part of Hawaii's Big Island earlier this week, and while that might seem surprising, it actually happens every year.

The summits of Hawaii's Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes both rise over 13,000 feet in elevation. Occasionally, when storm systems are soaking lower elevations of the Hawaiian Islands with rain, those two peaks look more like winter.

That's what happened Monday into Tuesday when a cold front stalled and produced heavy rainfall over much of the island chain. Localized flooding was reported in parts of Maui, Molokai and Kauai.

SPONSORED: Epic winter sale at Sierra Trading Post

Meanwhile, a winter weather advisory was posted by the National Weather Service (NWS) for elevations above 12,000 feet on the Big Island's summits. The advisory called for 2 to 4 inches of snowfall.

You can see confirmation of this snow on the ground Tuesday morning in the webcam timelapse from the Mauna Kea Weather Center.

Timelapse from Mauna Kea in Hawaii on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.

A road on Mauna Kea was closed beyond the visitor center (elevation 9,200 feet) on Tuesday because of wintry travel conditions closer to the summit.

Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are the most common locations to see snow in Hawaii, but sometimes it also blankets Haleakala on Maui since it rises to 10,000 feet.

Although it snows most often in winter at these highest elevations, it can happen any time of the year. A dusting of snow was observed at Mauna Kea in July 2015.

Blizzard warnings have even been issued by the NWS in recent years when the summits saw a combination of snowfall and strong winds.

Including Hawaii, snowfall has blanketed parts of 49 of the 50 U.S. states at some point since this snow season began in fall. As you might imagine, Florida is the only state that hasn't had accumulating snow this season.

Snow so far this season as of January 20, 2021.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.