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Where is it?Big Island , Hawaii [ 19.6103680 , -155.4898339 ]
What ’s in the photo?Snow covering the summit of Mauna Loa
The summit of Mauna Loa was covered in a thick dusting of snow, or “pineapple powder,” after a heavy snowstorm in February 2021.
Which orbiter took the photo?Landsat 8
When was it taken?Feb . 6 , 2021
impress satellite pic snapped in 2021 show thevolcanic peaks of Hawaii ’s Big Island covered with a thick dusting of snow , also known by local anesthetic as " pineapple powder , " following one of the island ’s most extreme snow in recent history .
Mauna Kea received less snow coverage than Mauna Loa. However, combined, the white patches reached near-record levels.
The first image ( see above ) shows the most extensive snow reporting on Mauna Loa , a 13,681 - substructure - tall ( 4,170 meters ) volcano near the nerve centre of the Big Island . The second effigy ( below ) shows a slightly smaller lily-white patch on Mauna Kea , a 13,796 - foot - tall ( 4,205 m ) peak located around 25 geographical mile ( 40 kilometers ) further magnetic north . Both range of a function were taken on the same day .
Mauna Loa is still active and most latterly erupted between November and December 2022 , according to theGlobal Volcanism Program . Mauna Kea , meanwhile , is inactive and has not erupted for at least 4,600 years .
Hawaiian snowfall is more rough-cut than most hoi polloi realize , and both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea often receive at least a brightness dusting every class . However , 2021 was an utmost case .
This 2008 photo shows snow covering the summit caldera of Mauna Loa with the similarly snow-topped summit of Mauna Kea in the background. Tracks from skiers and snowboarders can be seen in the image.
When the picture was taken , the combined coke covering both efflorescence attain the secondly - highest amount for this time of the class since records start in 2001 , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory . At the peak of the preceding snowstorm , up to 2 feet ( 0.6 m ) fell at the summit of both volcano in a single day .
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Local reportsrevealed that several islanders trade in their surfboard for snowboard and skis , and braved the trip-up up Mauna Kea to partake in some rare blow play as soon as the roads were clear .
Pineapple powder
Hawaiian snow is often link up to a weather phenomenon refer to as Kona down , fit in to the Earth Observatory . This is where winds wobble from the typical northeast direction and start blowing from the southwest , or " Kona " side , drawing wet from the tropic Pacific , which turns into rain and snow as it rises up the muckle ' incline .
nose candy is most potential to occur between October and April , and both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea live an norm of 20 days of snow cover every year , according to theLyman Museum , based in the Big Island townspeople of Hilo . On rarified occasion , snow has also fallen on the volcanoes as late as June , according toThe Weather Channel . However , the pineapple powder may not be as common in the time to come .
late inquiry divulge that human - stimulate climate change will likely make snow much less likely in Hawaii as rising ocean open temperature make Kona low less likely to pass off , accord to theUniversity of Hawai’i at Manoa ( UHM ) .
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" Unfortunately , the projections suggest that future mean wintertime snowfall will be 10 times less than present day measure , virtually wipe off all snow cover,“Chunxi Zhang , an atmospheric modeling specializer at the International Pacific Research Center in Hawaii , say in a UHM program line .
In Hawaiian mythology , Mauna Kea is home to the snow goddess Poli’ahu , who had a fierce contention with Pele — the goddess of fire and volcano , for which the rareglass - like anatomical structure that form at Hawaii ’s Kilauea volcanoare named . In one fib , Poli’ahu defeated Pele in a sleigh slipstream , which caused the latter to unleash a serial of major volcanic eruptions in anger , according to theUniversity of Hawai’i at Hilo .
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