‘Winter is here’: Snow blankets Mauna Kea summit

Mother Nature is definitely being tricky with the weather today at the summit of Mauna Kea, but with precautions in place such as the access road being closed, many Big Islanders are finding the scenery to be more of a treat just in time for Halloween.

“Winter is here,” proclaimed the Maunakea Visitor Information Station in an 8:36 a.m. post on its Facebook page Sunday sharing several webcam images from telescopes and observatories on the volcanic mountain’s summit showing it lightly blanketed with snow.

One of the photos also showed what was either fog and/or snow continuing to fall or blow in the wind.

The post added that the summit access road was closed because of ice and hazardous driving conditions. The road was still closed as of 12:30 p.m.

The summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are under a winter weather advisory through 6 a.m. Monday.

The National Weather Service forecast office in Honolulu says deep moisture moving over the state is bringing with it the potential for snow, which could be heavy at times, through tonight atop both mountains.

Periods of snow, low visibility and slick roads, with snow accumulations of up to 6 inches are possible.

The temperature at the summit was just above freezing at a balmy 35 degrees as of 12:37 p.m., according to the Center for Maunakea Stewardship Maunakea Weather Center, and only a few small patches of snow lingered.

There were bits of fog and humidity levels were between 90% and 100%, with an average relative humidity of 98%.

Winds were blowing from the east-northeast at an average of 10 mph. Ice had been detected in at least one location during the past 6 hours.

Big Islanders and others wasted no time in sharing images — and their excitement for the wintry weather — while the snow was on the ground early Sunday at the summit.

“Yuppers, dats SNOW on Mauna Kea on Hawai‘i Island!” wrote Renée Robinson of Kailua-Kona in an 8:54 a.m. Sunday post on Facebook, sharing a pic from one of the Mauna Kea observatories.

“Let it snow, let it snow,” replied June Iseminger.

Janet Carter was brief and to the point commenting on the Maunakea Visitor Information station post: “Wow!”

​​He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but Alford Davis commented on the live feed on YouTube from the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera, which is at Subaru Telescope at the Mauna Kea summit, that it looks “a little cold” on top of the mountain today.

“The first snow of the season has arrived on [Mauna Kea],” wrote Arlene Buklarewicz of Volcano in a 10:29 a.m. Facebook post, sharing a Mauna Kea observatory picture. “It’s not my photo, but I’m poised and ready for when she emerges out of the clouds!”