The Sacred Path

Journeys through the mist

Yes, it does snow in Hawaii

Keck 1 web cam image

View north from Keck 1

This image is from one of the Mauna Kea Weather Center web cams on top of Mauna Kea. As I write this it is 27 degrees F (-2.5 C) and the road is closed. Another huge storm is moving in Wednesday and Thursday so there will be even more snow up there and of course rain down here.


  1. This is amazing–I never considered that it could snow in Hawaii. Who knew?!

    • Definitely who would have thought. Back in the last ice age, Mauna Kea was covered with an ice cap and had glaciers. I wasn’t around then so I have no pictures.

  2. Ooops!
    Maybe I shouldn’t send you any snowy Xmas cards any more? 😀

  3. This must play havoc with your grass skirts…

    • It sure does. You have to have multiple layers of grass. For your grass shirts as well. I’m trying to figure out how to make grass mittens too. 🙂

  4. Not surprised that it can snow up there on the dead volcano mountain.

    By the way, we took a bus trip up there for night viewing of the stars near the research observatory. Cool. Just out of sight. Even without a telescope, we were overwhelmed by so many stars spattering across the sky at night. 🙂

    • Star gazing up there is absolutely incredible. With 40% of the earth’s atmosphere below you, the about of starts you can see is phenomenal.

      There are two incredible times to take night trips to the top of Mauna Kea. At the full moon (you cannot believe how bright it is and how it illuminates the surrounding area. It it is cloudy down below, the tops of the clouds look like a big plush down quilt that you just want to run and jump into. The other time to be up there is at the new moon when the sky is the darkest of the moon cycle. That is when the star gazing is beyond words.

  5. I’m more concerned about the climate changing. Is that happened because of the global warming?
    Or is it just nature? :O

    • @gita, it has almost always snowed on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, so this is not related to climate change. In fact, the name Mauna Kea means “White Mountain.” In the winter at the summits it can be as low as 30 degrees F during the day, and can even get down into the low teens at night depending on weather conditions. Even during the summer a 50 degree day is considered warm on top of Mauna Kea.

  6. Many thanks for your CSS help on WordPress’ support forum. 🙂

  7. yes it does snow in hawaii! you can surf in the morning, snowboard in the afternoon and have a coconut for lunch 🙂
    very recommended for surf holidays!

  8. Does anyone know of or have a picture of an unusual sky phenomenon that occurred over the summit of mauna kea around 2pm on 1-1-11?

Comments are closed.

© 2019 The Sacred Path

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑