Thousands of visitors flocked to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park last week as a monster storm hit the mainland, killing more than 50 people and causing tens of thousands of flights to be canceled across the nation.
As temperatures plummeted in many parts of the U.S., tourists crossed their fingers that their flights would allow them to visit the Big Island for the holidays.
“That was the biggest thing for us — we weren’t sure if our flights were going to be secured for the trip,” Judy Fromherz said while enjoying HVNP last week. “This is one of my favorite places to visit, so I was so happy everything worked out.”
Fromherz traveled to Hawaii from Aumsville, Oregon, where the state received unprecedented cold weather.
“We had a couple days of ice that were really out of the norm, and it was so cold,” Fromherz said. “I’m pretty sure it rained about four inches at home (the day she visited HVNP),”
Visitors were relieved that the weather at the national park over the holiday week was sunny and warm.
“This is nothing new for HVNP, or for the whole island. The winter holidays are very popular, with many people coming to escape the weather of their homes,” said HVNP spokeswoman Jessica Ferricane. “The weather across the island in the winter can be wet, but more often, we’ve had sunny and dry days throughout the park.”
Coming in from Boston, Dorothy, Charlie and Peter Crespi viewed one of the steam vents as they visited the park.
The Crespis were excited to be on the Big Island for the first time, but felt bad for two of their adult children who spent the holidays in Vermont and Buffalo, N.Y.
“We haven’t been too boastful about this trip, with much of our family still in the northeast,” Dorothy Crespi said.
“Our son experienced the worst storm ever in Buffalo, and they have storms, so that’s saying something,” Charlie Crespi added. “They were stuck in an Airbnb with a dog and just a microwave for five days, because no one could drive on the roads.”
Buffalo in particular was hit hard by the historic winter storm that left dozens dead. Snowfall for the season was more than 100 inches.
According to the Crespis, their son was able to make it out of Buffalo last week as roads were finally able to be cleared.
The Davis family traveled to the Big Island from Bryan, Texas, but did not leave in time to miss the abnormally cold weather.
“We left the day it started to warm up in the south,” Charles Davis said. “We don’t mind, though. We’re here now, and it’s wonderful. Hopefully, we’ll come home to milder weather.”
Christina Lee and Chris Uyeda had been in Hawaii since Dec. 16 and were heading back to the cold weather of the Midwest on New Year’s Eve.
“We came in from Indiana and have had a great time enjoying the weather here and on Oahu,” Uyeda said. “We’ve planned this for a while, and it’s been nice spending so much time here.”
“This trip has been lovely so far, and the island is beautiful,” Dorothy Crespi said. “We only wish we could stay longer.”
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.