While residents of snow-prone Denver and Boston wait for the first flakes to fall, Hawaii’s tallest peak is already blanketed in white.
On Tuesday, the Maunakea Visitor Information Station (VIS) shared photos and webcam footage of snow accumulated atop the volcano’s summit. All Big Island summits are currently under a winter weather advisory that will remain in place until 5 p.m. ET Thursday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
“CMS [Center for Maunakea Stewardship] rangers report ice and snow on the summit this morning,” the VIS stated in a Facebook post early Tuesday morning. “The access road above the Visitor Information Station is currently closed. Winter weather is forecast for the next few days with very limited viewing conditions.”
Well, it’s officially snowed in Hawaii before Denver this year. What a time to be alive! #cowx pic.twitter.com/Pdoy07r97t
— BoulderCAST Weather 🏔️⛈️ (@BoulderCAST) November 18, 2025
Seriously? Snow in Hawaii?
Despite its tropical climate, Hawaii’s biggest volcanoes—Maunakea and Maunaloa—receive snowfall every year. Maunakea stands nearly 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) above sea level, well within the elevation range for below-freezing temperatures.
Seeing light snow accumulation on Hawaii’s highest summits by mid-to-late November isn’t as unusual as you might think. What is unusual, however, is that Boston and Denver have yet to see flakes fly this season. In fact, this is the first time in Denver’s recorded history that not even a trace of snow has fallen by the second half of November, local news station KDVR reports.
Denver typically sees its first measurable snowfall around October 18, according to the NWS. With no snow on the ground as of Thursday, the 2025 season currently boasts the third-latest first snowfall in Denver’s recorded history. If it doesn’t snow by December 10, it will threaten the latest first snow record.
According to The Weather Channel, Boston’s first snowfall tends to arrive around November 29, so its winter season is cutting it close but technically still on track. But both Boston’s and Denver’s snow seasons have been shifting later due to climate change—a phenomenon that’s reshaping winter across the northern U.S.
Shifting seasons and snowfall
As Earth’s average temperature rises, the onset of winter is occurring later in the year across the northern hemisphere. The overall length of the season has also shortened, falling from 76 to 73 days between 1952 and 2011, according to a study published in 2021.
These changes are already having a significant impact on snowfall in northern states. A recent analysis by the Washington Post’s weather team found that the Northeast’s snowfall has fallen to levels 40% below average over the past five winters. NOAA has also recorded significant snowpack declines across the West.
In a warming world, seasonal abnormalities like delayed first snowfalls will only become more common in Denver, Boston, and other parts of the northern U.S. As the contrast between Hawaii’s early snow and the mainland’s missing flakes shows, winter isn’t as predictable as it used to be.
