(ABOVE) The north facing cam on Canada France Hawaii Telescope, one of the few Mauna Kea webcams not covered by ice this morning, shows white out conditions on the summit.

NEWS BRIEF

• The road to the summit of Mauna Kea remains closed to the public due to strong and gusty winds. The winds are sustained in the 55 to 70 mph range with higher gusts. A 110 mph blast was recorded earlier this morning.
• The Mauna Loa summit remains closed, according to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
• The National Weather Service is issuing a Blizzard Warning starting at 6 p.m this evening. Hurricane force winds (gusts over 120 mph) are expected at the summit with heavy snow squalls. Over a foot of snow is expected.

MEDIA

Screen grab shows a 110 mph wind gust just after 8 a.m. this morning on the summit (blue circle). Table is found on the Mauna Kea Weather Center website.

PRIMARY SOURCE

From the Mauna Kea Rangers:

The road to the summit of Maunakea remains closed to the public due to strong and gusty winds. The winds are sustained in the 55 to 70 mph range with higher gusts. Hawaii Island summits remain under a high wind warning through Saturday evening. This message will be updated as conditions change.

The summit road is closed when hazardous conditions occur. Criteria for closing the road are:
1. Sustained winds at 55 mph for an hour or gusts in excess of 65 mph;
2. Any ice or snow on the roadway;
3. Visibility being less than 50 feet;
4. Any other exigent circumstance that would make the road hazardous.Mauna Kea Rangers on Friday, January 02 at 03:25 a.m.

The National Weather Service warns of severe weather on the way for the entire state. This Special Weather Statement was issued at 3:46 a.m. HST:

…Strong to severe thunderstorms and damaging winds possible this afternoon and tonight…

A strong cold front will dig southeast toward the Aloha State today… Then sweep through the islands tonight into Saturday morning. Southwest winds will increase today ahead of the front… Becoming strong and gusty across Kauai and Oahu this afternoon… And across Maui County and the Big Island tonight. Strong thunderstorms with gusty winds along with heavy downpours will develop ahead of and along the front. The most likely time for adverse weather to occur will be this afternoon into early this evening across Kauai… This evening into the overnight across Oahu and Maui County… And late tonight into Saturday morning across the Big Island.

As the front passes over the islands… A few thunderstorms may become severe… With the potential to produce damaging straight line winds in addition to frequent lightning and intense rainfall.

Be ready for rapidly changing weather this afternoon and tonight. While not everyone will see intense weather… You should be prepared to move indoors quickly if the weather appears threatening or thunder is heard.National Weather Service special weather statement on Jan. 2