As of 11 pm local time, Hurricane Lala was moving northwestward at 15 miles per hour and still had maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour. Damaging winds and life-threatening rainfall were still happening across the Big Island and Maui County. One death and significant damage have already been reported. Conditions are expected to go downhill Sunday in Oahu and Kauai county. By that point, Lala is expected to be a Tropical Storm skirting just south of the islands. During the storm, I also noticed something very new to me and I have been a meteorologist and atmospheric scientist for over 35 years. While looking at the Keck Observatory cameras, it was evident that Hurricane Lala caused snow on Mauna Kea. Let me explain what’s unusual and not so unusual about that.
Hurricane Lala Caused Snow On Mauna Kea?
On Saturday, I started hearing chatter that the Lala was producing snow. I started scouring the observatory cameras and following some credible meteorology sources. Meteorologist Greg Diamond posted, “It’s happening. Hurricane Lala is currently producing SNOW on the summit of Mauna Kea.
My friend and fellow Florida State University alumnus Brad Nitz is the Chief Meteorologist at WSB Channel 2 in Atlanta. He shared a video on his Facebook page showing the falling snow. “Snow in a hurricane,” wrote Nitz. “The elevation is nearly 14000 feet, it’s cold up there.” At such elevations, we certainly expected extreme wind gusts over 100 miles per hour and feet of rainfall, but I didn’t have snow on my bingo card.
To be clear, snow on Mauna Kea and other mountains on the Big Island of Hawaii is not unusual. I just hadn’t seen it with a hurricane. Hurricane Lala did not “officially” make landfall but the eyewall and rainbands certainly impacted the islanded nonetheless. “It is absolutely correct to say that “official landfalls” are rare in Hawaii…. Hurricanes are not dots or lines on a map. They are large weather systems with impacts that extend well beyond the center of the storm,” I wrote yesterday at Forbes.com. At 4 pm noted hurricane chaser and historian Josh Morgerman wrote on Facebook, “And history is made: the edge of Hurricane LALA’s eyewall just nicked the S tip of the Big Island of Hawai’i. While it’s not a landfall, it’s a direct hurricane impact—the first known one for this island since 1871. And I was in the parking lot of Green Sands Beach to witness it.”
Why Can It Snow on Mauna Kea ?
I hesitated to write this story. I worried that people would think that it is unusual to have snow in Hawaii or on the mountains there. That’s actually not unusual at all. There have actually been Winter Storm Warnings posted for the summits of the Big Island of Hawaii.
“As air rises, it cools. Temperatures drop roughly 3.5°F for every 1,000 feet gained in altitude. While coastal Hawaii may sit comfortably in the 70s or 80s, the summit of Mauna Kea can dip well below freezing during winter storms,” wrote the North Shore Zipline company website. “Between December and March, cold fronts from the North Pacific occasionally reach the Big Island. Kona lows can also produce significant snow.
When enough moisture and cold air coincide, precipitation falls as snow rather than rain at the summit,” Their website continued. The website pointed out that multiple snows happen there most years ranging from heavy storms to dustings. Snowfall usually occurs in the middle of winter but has been recorded as late as May.
That’s what makes this so interesting. It’s August, and hurricanes don’t impact the Big Island as frequently as you think. For the people of Hawaii, snow on the mountain carries significant cultural importance. “Today, the appearance of snow continues to hold cultural meaning, reminding residents and visitors alike that Mauna Kea is a place deserving of reverence and respect,” The Shore Zipline Company website went on to say.
Even here in Atlanta where I live, most of the rain at the ground started as snowfall in the clouds because it is extremely cold at that altitude, even though it may be 95 degrees Fahrenheit at the ground. It simply melts as it falls.