A photo taken Jan. 5, 2026, at 8:45 a.m. shows heavy snow at the summit of Maunakea.
© University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Center for Maunakea StewardshipA photo taken Jan. 5, 2026, at 8:45 a.m. shows heavy snow at the summit of Maunakea.
While most of the state of Hawaii is experiencing wet and cold weather, on Hawaii's tallest peak, Maunakea, it's below freezing, creating a thick blanket of snow.

Overnight on Monday, the summit area of Maunakea on Hawaii Island received 8 to 10 inches of snowfall, according to Nahua Guilloz, who is the director of stewardship programs at the University of Hawaii at Hilo's Center for Maunakea Stewardship.

"It is currently still snowing on the summit," wrote Guilloz, who emailed Spectrum News Hawaii on Monday at 11:25 a.m.

Because of the snow and ice, the road to the summit is closed. The Maunakea Stewardship's utilities crew is working to clear the snow with a snow blower, two snow plows and a front-end loader.

"There is still forecasted a lot of rain for today and overnight, so we expect that there will be more snow to clear tomorrow," Guilloz added.

Hawaii Island's summit reaches into the sky at 13,500 feet above sea level, and it usually snows there a few times each year.