Yep, Hawaii does get snow. The news tonight said they had to close access and evacuate people from Mauna Kea because of snow.
We get snow pretty much every year on our two largest mountains on the Big Island. It's been a dry winter so this is the first this year. People often think we can't get snow because it's the tropics... but 14,000 feet altitudes can get cold no matter where you are on the globe.
Here's a shot I took last January after a real good snow on Mauna Loa, with Kailua in the foreground, probably the heaviest one since I moved here. I hadn't seen it down this far on the mountain before. We had snow on the mountain for a couple weeks after that one. The view is often blocked by clouds so I was glad I was out on the boat to catch this shot.
Later,
Steve
