How to save money on Hawaii in 2018?
It’s a question you may not have heard, but the state is looking to make a dent in its budget woes.
In the 2018 fiscal year, Hawaii’s total annual snowpack fell for the first time in almost 50 years, the National Weather Service reports.
The National Weather Services says this is largely because of increased snow accumulation during winter and spring, and the warmer temperatures, but there’s a reason for the decrease.
It’s because the state has been running on a surplus of snow, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
The snow has been on the ground since mid-February, when the storm system that hit the state dumped up to five inches of snow on the island.
But Hawaii has also been spending money on other, less tangible needs, such as snowmobiles, hiking trails and snowmobile rentals, according the National Ski Areas Association.
So while the surplus is an easy sell, it may not last forever.
“The question that remains is what’s the impact on the state’s ability to maintain a surplus?” says NWS meteorologist Dan Sperry.
“It’s a little tricky to quantify, but we’re hoping to see a slight improvement, maybe something in the $10 million range.”
The NWS expects the snowpack to improve over the next several weeks.
But even with the snow, there’s still a lot of snow left in Hawaii.
The NWS says the state will still get about 50 inches of precipitation over the entire month of February.
That’s a lot, but it’s less than half the amount it got in 2017, when it got more than 80 inches of rain and 6.5 inches of hail.
“If we’re going to have a healthy surplus in the future, it’s going to be an important piece of the puzzle to get us back on track,” says NWA executive director Michael Fagan.
