Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Snow fell on Mauna Kea on Friday even as muggy weather continued at lower elevations.
Friday’s snow came as thunderstorms made their way through Hawaii island. Matthew Foster, a meteorologist with the Honolulu office of the National Weather Service, said the thunderstorms are what "primarily produced snow on the summits."
Forecasters expect that the snowfall won’t continue into the weekend.
"We don’t have it in the forecast," said Foster, noting that tradewinds began returning Friday afternoon and were expected to pick up Saturday. That means a low likelihood for snow, according to Foster.
Foster said most of the snow that fell was lost to evaporation throughout the day Friday.
The hot, muggy weather and chance of more showers is expected to continue through Saturday morning.
Thursday’s high temperatures tied records for the date at the Hilo and Honolulu airports. The high in Hilo of 89 degrees tied a record set in 1986.
Honolulu Airport’s high temperature of 91 degrees matched a record set in 1995. High temperature records have been set or tied 20 times so far in July.
On Friday the temperature in Lihue hit 86 degrees, which tied a record set in 2008.
Forecasters blame an area of moist, unstable weather that moved over the islands for the muggy conditions and rain Thursday and Friday.
A record daily rainfall of 2.92 inches hit Hilo on Friday, eclipsing the old record of 2.74 inches set in 1958.
Drier conditions and breezier tradewinds are expected over the weekend.
84