From warm temperatures to tornadoes, all over the United States Americans have been seeing unusual weather this week. And if you were thinking that our beautiful islands would be safe from any weary weather then we’re sorry to report that you got your hopes up too high. Yesterday, the National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for the Big Island’s highest peaks and things have been intense here to say the least.

While out-of-towners may assume that Hawaii remains a warm weathered paradise all year long, it's actually not uncommon for us to see snow.
kanu101/Flickr
Both Mauna Kea and Muana Loa have been seeing extremely strong winds, heavy snow and ice over the past 24 hours. With elevations so high, Hawaii's biggest mountains are no strangers to snow and icy weather. But as of yesterday the abnormally harsh weather has caused snow removal crews and observation personnel working on the summit to evacuate the mountains.
The Mauna Kea Summit Access Road is closed as well, due to snow.
malamamaunakea/Instagram
This is first blizzard warning that the summits have been issued since March of 2015. The National Weather Service warned those in the area that they could be seeing a total of 6 to 10 inches of snow while also dealing with gusts of winds whipping up to 65 miles per hour.

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This photo shared on Instagram by malamamaunakea, shows snow on Pu'uhaukea.
malamamaunakea/Instagram
And while our tall summits are experiencing icy weather, down on the rest of the Big Island our residents are dealing with flash flood warnings.
Ben K/Flickr
High wind speeds are expected to calm down this afternoon but the islands still have flash flood warnings in effect until later this evening.
So far areas of Oahu have seen roughly 14 inches of rainfall and have been dealing with major flooding.
incidencematrix/Flickr
Because of the storms and flooding, part of the Kamehameha Highway on Oahu was closed yesterday. Those who were out this way even saw vehicles floating in flooded areas. Heavy rain has also affected Kauai, with thunderstorms at lower elevations.

Those who have to travel today on any of our islands are urged to bring survival kits with them and to stay safe.

Has this intense weather affected your area of Hawaii at all? If you must travel today, we urge you to be cautious and safe as always!

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