Winter weather in Hawaii

[foxyfox31]

Hello. I know that Hawaii doesn't have a winter as I would know it (I'm from the east coast near D.C.), but how cool does it get? I ask because I'm cold blooded and I want to get an idea of what clothes I should bring with me when I arrive in December. I'm guessing you guys don't have heat in your homes/apts. Ever feel like you want it/need it in the winter?
I know, this question sounds silly :p but I really can't tolerate being cold. I can't wait to get away from ice/snow/freezing temps!

Thanks!

[Pua'i Mana'o]

there is no single answer. Waimea on Kauai? Prepare to boil all year long. Waimea B.I.? Polartecs and cashmere and wood for the fireplace is recommended.

[GeckoGeek]

Depends on where you live. After all, it does snow at the top of Moana Kea. :eek:

But by in large, if it gets below 55, it's record breaking cold. (although I think Mililani can get down to 50) On the hot side, it can get to the 90s, but I don't think it's ever broken 100. But those are the extremes. Most of the time for much of the island, I think it's 68-95.

[Karen]

Houses in Wahiawa Heights actually have fireplaces! I was told that many people don't use them, but that the smell of firewood burning can be enjoyed a lot of winter morns, so somebody's using theirs. 50 some nights sounds about right for Mililani, but this past winter....I bet only a couple of nights.

I LUVV this island for its winter, ahhhh.

[blueyecicle]

I won a contest once , the question? What state has never reached 100 degrees and never gotten below 0...well DUH... Hawaii.

But I was googling this today and i do see one time on the Big Island it did in fact reach 100!

The climate at sea level in Hawaii is tropical, and cooled by ocean breezes called trade winds. There are two seasons: winter and summer. The only real difference is winter is a little cooler, and a little rainier (the rain can usually be avoided on the leeward and southern sides of the island). My thermometer (I am at sea level) in the shade sits at about 86 degrees F all the time. At night it will drop down to 76 degrees, and in the winter at night I might see it drop to 70 degrees (brrrrrrr). The temperatures may reach the mid 90's in the summer, and the high 80's to low 90's in the winter. Island temperatures have reached 100 degrees F only once in recorded history on the Big Island. This results in warm, sometimes hot weather, with (hopefully) ocean breezes to cool you.

http://www.andhawaii.com/hawaii/budget-travel/islandbasics.html
Oh and as for your question....google is your friend...

Here is the national site for average temps in various places of Hawaii.
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/hawaii/

[foxyfox31]

50 is chilly, but it's way better than 30 or less during the winter! I have a little electric heater and I am debating about whether to ship it over or not...
We'll be living near U of H Manoa. We don't know exactly where yet. I looked at the ave temps over the year at weather.com and it looks like ave highs in the 60's with an occasional dip into the 50's for the winter. Space heater, blanket, a few sweaters? It's so hard to decide what to bring to a place that has such a different climate than what I grew up with :)
We hit a heat index of 105F today in W-burg and Richmond. The shade is the same temp as the sun when it gets like this. Bleh :( Not that hot in Honolulu is it?

[foxyfox31]

I won a contest once , the question? What state has never reached 100 degrees and never gotten below 0...well DUH... Hawaii.

But I was googling this today and i do see one time on the Big Island it did in fact reach 100!


http://www.andhawaii.com/hawaii/budget-travel/islandbasics.html
Oh and as for your question....google is your friend...

Here is the national site for average temps in various places of Hawaii.
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/hawaii/

Hey thanks, these sites were helpful. I find it funny that W-burg gets more rain than Honolulu. I know its on the dry/leeward side, but you think Hawaii and you think rainforest :) That and I really don't feel like it rains all that much around here to begin with except maybe in March/April.

[helen]

Not every where in Hawaii is a rain forest. In any event I would suggest at least packing the sweaters. The blankets is up to you but local stores do sell blankets (and sweaters). Space heater you could leave behind.

Last month I was in Texas and while the day time temperature was roughly the same as in Hawaii during the summer, the night time temperature got colder than the typical winter night in Hawaii.

Typical winter temperature on Oahu is at least in the low 70's. If get's below 65 that might get front page headline.

[Karen]

Dig this! My parents bought us, as grade school kids the then new set of Comptons Encyclopedias in like...hm......'61 or 62. Well, being sentimental and not having bought a new set yet (which I have now) I took them when I married and moved. I looked up Honolulu in them, and this is absolute fact that they claimed that Honolulu had never had a temperature above eighty-something! I was like, "Huh? it gets to 92 occasionally, highest I've seen."

Sure, the earth has always had warming and cooling trends, not just yearly but over it's millions of years. To me, this proves, if Comptons was correct i the sixties that sure, we're in a warming trend now. Dang, I no longer have this set and wish I did, cuz I didn't remember just how low in the eighties that had been the warmest Honolulu temp back then.

It makes me wonder now...just how very cool was Wahiawa for many years?? and no wonder they have fireplaces! As I read at NOAA I see that Wahiawa is consistently approx, 6 degrees cooler than Honolulu. Did Wahiawa Heights used to get down to 43 and 44?! boggles the mind...:D

Oh! PS.....wouldn't it be safe to say that mid to upper sixties are normal for winter nights, summing up the whole island of Oahu and that occasionally.....it chills us in the fifties?

[Star of Gladness]

Hello. I know that Hawaii doesn't have a winter as I would know it (I'm from the east coast near D.C.), but how cool does it get? I ask because I'm cold blooded and I want to get an idea of what clothes I should bring with me when I arrive in December. I'm guessing you guys don't have heat in your homes/apts. Ever feel like you want it/need it in the winter?
I know, this question sounds silly :p but I really can't tolerate being cold. I can't wait to get away from ice/snow/freezing temps!

Thanks!

DC area to Hawaii? DUH! Forget about it!

[blueyecicle]

Not every where in Hawaii is a rain forest. In any event I would suggest at least packing the sweaters. The blankets is up to you but local stores do sell blankets (and sweaters). Space heater you could leave behind.

Last month I was in Texas and while the day time temperature was roughly the same as in Hawaii during the summer, the night time temperature got colder than the typical winter night in Hawaii.

Typical winter temperature on Oahu is at least in the low 70's. If get's below 65 that might get front page headline.

It's funny you say that because our last vacation in Oahu was in Feb. And it was 60 degrees at night and It made FRONT Page news!! Saying how terribly cold it was to locals. (their words)
I had packed sweaters and such but never even open my suitcase! 60 is summer in Oregon!

[timkona]

Why do some people say that winter is the rainy season in Hawaii?

Summer is the rainy season in West Hawaii. Winter is dry and clear.

[foxyfox31]

60F would be cold to me now...it's been around 100F most days for the past two weeks. 60 after December temps will be great! I won't ship my heater then, but sweaters..yes!
I was in LA this January when they had freezing temps. It was 80F the first day we were there and the temp dropped by 10 or more degrees everyday until there was ice on the ground when we left a week later. People were outside staring at the ice on the street corners our last day there (everyone waters their lawns frequently as it's a desert pretty much). Needless to say, I hadn't packed for that kind of weather. It hadn't even been below freezing more than a few times back home in southern Va by then. I had to borrow the one of two sweaters my friend in LA owned to go out and sight see without freezing.
Global warming does some freaky stuff :eek:

[foxyfox31]

Why do some people say that winter is the rainy season in Hawaii?

Summer is the rainy season in West Hawaii. Winter is dry and clear.

When I looked up ave precipitation by month in Honolulu, the December and January aves are higher than most of the rest of the year. I was surprised that we get more rain on ave in W-burg than Honolulu does. So we have a rainy season that lasts year round I guess:)

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/compare/23185?sfld1=Williamsburg,%20VA%20(23185)&sfld2=honolulu,%20hi&clocid1=USVA0832&clocid2=

If you click the precipitation button on this site, you can see what I mean. Pretty neat.

[blueyecicle]

I dunno, I think the rain here in Virginia comes down much differently than the Pacific area.
Oregon rain is NOTHING compared to Virginia rain!! It rained alot on our vacation in Oahu last year and still nothing like East Coast rain.

I thought I knew rain living in the northwest, I was W - R- O- N- G

[GeckoGeek]

It rained alot on our vacation in Oahu last year and still nothing like East Coast rain.

Did you visit during our 42 days and nights of rain?

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Why do some people say that winter is the rainy season in Hawaii?

Summer is the rainy season in West Hawaii. Winter is dry and clear.

I grew up learning that the windward's dry season is called "Kona Weather/Kona winds" and that would be the leeward's wet season. It is the reverse during the normal trade winds.