Tropical Hawaii is under a blizzard warning this weekend with at least 12 inches of snow forecast for the volcanic summits on the Big Island through early Saturday morning.
"Travel could be very difficult to impossible," according to an alert from the National Weather Service. "Blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility at times, with periods of zero visibility."
The warning was put in effect for the summits from 6 p.m. local time Friday through 6 a.m. Saturday, and stressed "strong winds will likely cause significant drifting of snow."
The Big Island's summits do get snow, as the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes are almost 14,000 feet high, reports ABC News.
Earlier this week, the National Park Service shared images of Volcanoes National Park through its Twitter account and said, because of high winds and winter weather conditions, the summit of Mauna Loa had been temporarily closed.
In another tweet, the service shared a dramatic photo of Kīlauea Caldera walls, the tree-covered slopes of Mauna Loa, and a snow-capped Mauna Kea.
Meanwhile, a flood watch is in effect for all of Hawaii's islands through Monday afternoon, with heavy rainfall expected over the weekend.
The active weather system in Hawaii this weekend is being caused by a seasonal cyclone system known as the Kona low. The system pulls in moisture from the south, reports Weather Channel meteorologist Ari Sarsalari.
The weather system is also expected to bring the "greatest potential for heavy rain" over the Big Island and Maui, according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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