Dec 4, 2021 01:02 AM
https://gizmodo.com/hawaii-is-getting-a-...1848158381
EXCERPT: The National Weather Service issued rare blizzard warnings for the highlands of the Big Island on Friday as a powerful storm plows into the island chain. The forecast would be gnarly even if it weren’t in the tropics. [...] “Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” the NWS Honolulu office warned. “Blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility at times, with periods of zero visibility.”
The high reaches of the Big Island could see “12 inches or more” according to the agency, and winds will gust more than 100 mph (160 kph), stats that would put even the most fearsome nor’easter to shame.
Webcam imagery from the top of Mauna Loa, the highest point in Hawaii, shows snow already on the ground on. Volcanoes National Park closed summit access to Mauna Loa until at least Wednesday, indicating that the trails that head there are likely going to be impassable for quite some time. In short, it’s about to get real.
While the intensity of the forecast and snow warning language are striking, so, too, are the NWS alerts in place for lower elevations. The Big Island along with the neighboring islands that make up Hawaii stretching to the northwest are under a slew of high wind, surf, gale, and flood warnings and watches. The NWS is calling for “significant flooding” and risks of landslides on every one of the Hawaiian islands, underscoring how widespread and vigorous the system is... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: The National Weather Service issued rare blizzard warnings for the highlands of the Big Island on Friday as a powerful storm plows into the island chain. The forecast would be gnarly even if it weren’t in the tropics. [...] “Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” the NWS Honolulu office warned. “Blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility at times, with periods of zero visibility.”
The high reaches of the Big Island could see “12 inches or more” according to the agency, and winds will gust more than 100 mph (160 kph), stats that would put even the most fearsome nor’easter to shame.
Webcam imagery from the top of Mauna Loa, the highest point in Hawaii, shows snow already on the ground on. Volcanoes National Park closed summit access to Mauna Loa until at least Wednesday, indicating that the trails that head there are likely going to be impassable for quite some time. In short, it’s about to get real.
While the intensity of the forecast and snow warning language are striking, so, too, are the NWS alerts in place for lower elevations. The Big Island along with the neighboring islands that make up Hawaii stretching to the northwest are under a slew of high wind, surf, gale, and flood warnings and watches. The NWS is calling for “significant flooding” and risks of landslides on every one of the Hawaiian islands, underscoring how widespread and vigorous the system is... (MORE - missing details)
