Strange Weather: Why Did It Snow In Hawaii In June?

[웃 910]

It snowed in Hawaii on Saturday — yes, this Saturday. In June.

Hot air met cold above Mauna Kea, one of several volcanic island mountains that make up the Hawaii island chain, causing a powerful thunderstorm that, in the presence of the cooler-than- normal air, dropped roughly 6 inches of snow on the mountaintop. "The ground coverage was significant, mostly above 12,000 feet," Ryan Lyman, a forecast climatologist at the Mauna Kea

Weather

Center, told Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience.

One might wonder: how is late spring and summer snow in the tropics even possible?

June snowfall on Mauna Kea is rare but not unheard of, experts say. "It's the first June snow event we've had in probably close to 30 years," Lyman said, "but there have been episodes in July and August as well as late May."

"[The snowstorm] was associated with a pool of cold air in the upper atmosphere that came down from the mid-latitudes," said Steven Businger, chief meteorologist at the Storm Evolution and Energetics Research group at the University of Hawaii Manoa.

"As the land heated up throughout the day, the surface air started to rise," Lyman said, and when the warm surface air encountered the pool of cold air in the upper atmosphere, that produced a thunderstorm — and the snow.

"This happens from time to time, but more commonly in the wintertime than the summer," Businger said. The reason why it's able to happen in the summer at all, he explained, is Mauna Kea's high elevation. "Keep in mind that Mauna Kea is close to 14,000 feet high, so the temperature at the top is not much warmer than freezing for most of the year."

Because the daily temperature at the summit runs from 0 degrees Fahrenheit to 60 F from April to November, snow during the spring and summer is "within the range of 'relatively normal,'" Businger said.trange Wea

http://www.livescience.com/14512-strange-weather-snow-hawaii-june.htmlther: Why Did It Snow In Hawaii In June?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Nothing strange about that--it's just like why there are snowcaps visible (on the rare clear day) from Mexico City.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Nothing strange about that--it's just like why there are snowcaps visible (on the rare clear day) from Mexico City.

You can see the snow caps in Hawaii from Mexico City? Wow! Even Palin couldn't do that.

[Darnell 8,478]

Yes, she could !

[^_^ 5,021]

Palin can do anything she sets her mind to, bless her little heart.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Palin can do anything she sets her mind to, bless her little heart.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

You can see the snow caps in Hawaii from Mexico City? Wow! Even Palin couldn't do that.

She would need x-ray + telescopic vision to do that feat--for most MC'ers, the mountains around would block their view on the rare clear day (the rest of the time, they can't even see these mountains--which BTW have the snowcaps I referred to earlier--due to the smog/haze).

[Darnell 8,478]

Come on, don't confuse her with the facts, it's not sporting.