December 8th, 2007
Snow Blizzards in Hawaii??? YES!
If you’ve been watching the news you may have seen that Hawaii was just hit with a tropical storm carrying wind gusts of up to 70mph and in some areas even stronger.
What makes that storm worth writing about for me is the snow fall at the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. On Wednesday of this week a blizzard warning was issued for those two summit areas with heavy snow showers that would bring a near zero visibility with up to six inches of snowfall.
Mauna Kea (Hawaiian for ‘white mountain’) is a 13,796′ (4205 meter) volcanic mountain whose summit sometimes gets a skiable/boardable mantle of snow. There are no lifts, no grooming, no resort, but a road goes to the summit to serve the dozen or so world class observatories located at the summit. You must have a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get to the summit, which serves as your "lift." Basically, skiers take turns being the driver, who picks up the other skiers at the bottom of the runs and ferries them up to the summit. Conditions at the top are extremely variable. Winter temperatures range from 25 to 40 degrees F (-4 to 4 C), but wind chill and the high altitude can make it seem much colder. Between April and November the weather is milder, with daytime temperatures varying from 30 to 60 degrees F (0 to 15 C). Forget about skiing if the wind is blowing too hard. The wind chill will be too cold, it will be too dangerous and the road will probably be closed.
