Snow in Hawai’i: What does the future hold?

Researchers, led by climate modelers, used satellite images to quantify recent snow cover distributions patterns on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, Hawai’i. They developed a regional climate model to simulate the present-day snowfalls and then to project future Hawaiian snowfalls. Their results indicate that the two volcano summits are typically snow-covered at least 20 days each winter, but that the snow cover will nearly disappear by the end of the century.