Officials Warn People To Stay Away From Closed Haleakala
HONOLULU — The summit road to Haleakala will remain closed until at least Thursday morning, according to National Parks officials.
The roadway was closed before dawn Tuesday after snow and ice made driving hazardous. Rangers at Haleakala National Park made the decision to keep the summit closed because of continued severe weather conditions on the mountain.
A winter weather advisory also was extended for the summit of Haleakala, as well as the summit areas of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island, until 6 a.m. Thursday. The National Weather Service said the cold upper low pressure system over the islands had dropped the freezing levels on the mountains to as low as 6,000 feet, and that freezing rain and sleet were still possible.
“The roadway is still icy, with snow on top of it,” said Haleakala park spokesperson Dominic Cardea. “We even had a military vehicle that couldn’t make it up this morning because of the ice.”
Park rangers said visitors should not come to the park until they can confirm that the road has been reopened. Once that happens, rangers added that visitors should stay on marked trails to protect the fragile ecosystem on the summit, including rare plants like the silversword, which grows only on Haleakala’s summit area.
“There are other rare plants and animals found only at Haleakala,” Cardea said. He added that visitors should not take coolers up to the summit to collect snow to bring home because the snow may contain rare seeds and insects from the summit.