Hawaii Visitors Thankful For Paradise While Residents Learn To Deal With Cold Weather

HONOLULU (KHON2) – The winter storm means some Hawaii visitors are even more thankful to be in paradise right now. However, residents who currently call the East Coast their home are finding ways to get by.

Sunny beaches and clear skies are everything Minnesota resident Diane Jorde wanted.

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For her friends and family in the land of 10,000 lakes, it’s not quite picture-perfect weather. 

“They said it was like 20-some below, and then with wind chill, it was 35 below or something crazy,” said Jorde as she spoke of the temperature back home. “You know, it’s so exciting to be here in Hawaii. You almost forget, like if you’re in Minnesota right now. You don’t even want to go out to your mailbox, that is how cold it is.”

Chris Elliott, a Texan with friends in New York, is also happy to be in the islands.

“We were sharing videos this morning, they were up to their knees in snow and shivering out in the New York City streets, and we were sending them pictures from Waikiki Beach. So, pretty happy about that,” said Elliott.

Then, there’s Kiralee Kuraoka, a Hawaii-born Boston University student spending her first winter on the mainland in over a foot of snow, but it’s not stopping her from having fun.

“They’ve been plowing the sidewalks. Where me and my friends went to go play in the snow, there was about, like, 18 inches of snow, I think, it was like to my knees.”

Kuraoka said the wind is the worst part. She thought her friends were joking when they lent her a pair of ski goggles.

“I kind of thought they were just being dramatic because I’m from Hawaii,” said Kuraoka. “But trying to walk against the wind – I kept getting snow in my eyes so I just ended up putting on ski goggles and it made everything a lot easier.”

While freezing cold temperatures are foreign to Hawaii, the Northeast is well prepared for storms like these.

“I’m not worried about them, people know how to dress, and people know what to do,” explained Jorde. “And the schools, if it’s below zero they don’t let them go outside and do recess and things like that. They would hold things indoors, but they’re equipped for it in those cold places.”