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Snow in Hawaii? Cold air and moisture are delivering snow to the state’s highest mountain.

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Snow in Hawaii? Cold air and moisture are delivering snow to the state’s highest mountain.

HONOLULU (AP) — Snow fell on Hawaii’s highest peak this week, briefly turning the mountaintop into a winter wonderland. About 2 inches (5 centimeters) of white powder hit the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island.

Hawaii is better known for its warm weather, beaches and rainforests. But snow often falls at higher elevations on Mauna Kea during the wetter winter months.

The summit is so high—it sits 13,803 feet (4,207 meters) above sea level—that temperatures there can drop below freezing year-round, creating the potential for snow during any month.

This week, an upper-level disturbance led to a cooler spell as moisture moved in from the east and spread across the islands Sunday through Monday, said Maureen Ballard, senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

“The combination of cold temperatures and humidity equals snow when temperatures are below freezing,” Ballard said.

Webcams mounted on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope showed the ground covered in white shortly after sunrise Monday. Two days later, cameras showed that the snow had disappeared.

No one lives on the summit of Mauna Kea, sacred to many Native Hawaiians. Centuries-old stories say that Mauna Kea is the firstborn of Father Sky and Mother Earth.

The limited light pollution and dry atmosphere at the top of the mountain also make it one of the best places in the world to watch the night sky. Astronomers built nearly a dozen telescopes on the summit, leading to Nobel Prize-winning discoveries and some of the first images of planets outside our solar system.