The road to the summit of Mauna Kea is now open

MAUNA KEA – Snow has been falling on Mauna Kea all week, and even though its hard to see the cloud-covered summit from below, webcams are showing the weather event in all its glory.

For the first time in days, the road to the summit was officially open. “As always, we strongly recommend using a 4 wheel drive vehicle when traveling past the Visitor Information Station (9,200 ft) to the summit,” said the Mauna Kea rangers in a message. “Mahalo and drive safely.”

Webcams at the summit showed a small crowd gathering snow into their pickup trucks for an icy delivery to sea level.

Earlier this week, forecasters predicted accumulations of 10 inches or more as the summit was under a winter storm warning. The video above shows the blanket of snow on the summit from Monday/Tuesday. The shots from below were taken from Waimea by Visionary Video on March 5th.

The island’s higher elevations are currently under a high wind watch, with gusts up to 55 miles per hour possible.