Hawaii Storm Might Have Set the State's All-Time Record Low; Snow Fell on Maui, Too By Jonathan Erdman 4 days ago weather.com
At a Glance
A powerful storm raked Hawaii with damaging winds this past weekend. Temperatures atop Mauna Kea may have surpassed the state's all-time record low. A wind gust just shy of 200 mph was also clocked on Mauna Kea.
Snow fell near Maui's Haleakala volcano.
This is just the latest example of weird weather in Hawaii since spring 2018. An unusually intense Hawaii storm might have broken a couple of all-time records for cold and snow in our 50th state. (NEWS: Latest Damage, Impacts)
Just after midnight on Monday, a number of sensors atop Mauna Kea dipped below 12 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Mauna Kea Weather Center, a facility supporting a number of telescopes atop the 13,770-foot volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.
A screengrab of temperatures atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii, just after 1 a.m. HST, Feb. 11, 2019. (Mauna Kea Weather Center)
The coldest among the readings gathered just after midnight Monday was 9 degrees (–12.8 degrees Celsius) at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). If the temperatures early Monday are deemed accurate, the readings from at least four stations on Mauna Kea would exceed the official all-time state record low in Hawaii of 12 degrees (-11.1 degrees Celsius) also set atop Mauna Kea on May 17, 1979.
However, weather historian Christopher Burt believes that 12-degree temperature may have been an error, and instead the all-time record low in Hawaii is 15 degrees, set Jan. 5, 1975, at Mauna Kea, according to a Weather Underground blog post.
Another contender for Hawaii's all-time low is the 9.5 degrees (-12.5°C) measured on Jan. 15, 1992, at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope facility atop Mauna Kea, according to weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera.
An ad hoc Climate Extremes Committee made up of scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, NWS meteorologists and the state climatologist might convene at a later date to evaluate the temperature measurements to determine if one of them will be accepted as a new state record.
Though chilly, temperatures during the most recent storm were nowhere near the all-time record lows for Honolulu (52 degrees), Lihue (46), Kahului (48) or Hilo (53).
GOES-17 infrared satellite loop showing the rapid development of the low-pressure system which plunged south toward Hawaii from Feb. 9-11, 2019, bringing damaging winds and surf to the island chain. (NOAA, CIRA/RAMMB)
The summit of Mauna Kea also saw extremely strong winds on Sunday. A peak wind gust to 191 mph was clocked at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) station, according to the National Weather Service.
"The summits of the highest volcanoes here have seen winds well over 100 mph on a number of occasions in the past," said Dr. Steven Businger, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Hawaii.
Due to icy conditions, the lone access road to the summit was closed to the public below the visitor information station during the storm.
Maui Snow
Given how cold this Hawaii storm was, there were even reports of snow on Haleakala, a broad shield volcano on Maui.
NWS-Honolulu issued a winter weather advisory for brief, intense snow showers, icy conditions and freezing fog generally above 8,000 feet.
Click for Full Text!
Poster Comment:
Video at source.