Does it snow in Hawaii?

This post is “s-no-w” joke. Honestly, it’s not.

You might be surprised to learn snow does fall on Hawaii almost every Winter. Just a few days ago, Hawaii’s Big Island peaks of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea got a beautiful blanket of snow. You can read the news about it and see a video here.

Hawaii’s many diverse climates really fascinate me. We often think of Hawaii as being a tropical beach paradise. So, it’s puzzling to accept that these Hawaiian Islands receive snow – considering that they are situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and near the equator!

The following photo is from our collection when we toured the top of Mauna Kea for sunset and stargazing back in March 2008. What a mind-boggling scene to see snow on volcanic cinder cones.

Cinder Cones in Snow on Mauna Kea

This next photo of the sunset we enjoyed that day. It’s not often you see Hawaii sunset photos with snow.

Sunset at Mauna Kea

Don’t worry that snow will ruin your Hawaii vacation. Only the peaks of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa on the Big Island and occasionally Haleakala on Maui experience any snow. So, no need to pack the parka for your sun soaking beach time.

11 comments
  1. I read about this Sheila but didn’t see any pics or video. So cool!! That is great that the people in Hawaii actually do get to see and experience snow without having to fly to the mainland. Beautiful!

    1. Janet – I went back and read my post. I make a lot of typos, but I didn’t say photos. 🙂

      Dd you mean the photos weren’t displaying in the post itself? My photos are hosted on flickr. I wonder if flicker might have been down briefly when you looked? Either way, seems like it was acting wacky.

      1. oh my goodness Sheila, this is what happens when I post in a hurry (which is all the time!) I am so sorry, I wasn’t clear at all in what I was trying to say! I meant that I had read about snow on the Big Island in the staradvertiser but I hadn’t seen any pics until your two in the post and then the link for the video that you posted was so cool. My deepest apologies for making you go to extra, unnecessary work. The post you did was great, the two pics you put up were wonderful and I really enjoyed the video link which worked perfectly. :>(

        1. Oh, I’m relieved to hear that the photos were actually displaying. Me and technology have been having a little spat lately 🙂 and I figured that fickr wasn’t working. Thanks for letting me know and no worries or apologies necessary! :

  2. Too funny! The comments are good. 🙂 I still haven’t seen snow! We may not have to fly to the mainland but we still have to fly! Thanks, Sheila, for sharing!

  3. OMG! I actually got a visual of the snow melting through a cardboard box on the way to the post office! I need a vacation! LOL!

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