- Homepage
- Hawaii Planning
- Hawaii Articles
- Best time to travel to Hawaii
Best time to travel to Hawaii
In our opinion, the summer is simply too warm for a lot of outdoor hiking and adventure, especially on locations like the Big Island’s black lava fields or any other island's coastal trails (Kalalau on Kauai for example). Select lower prices are nice on the wallet, but the sun combined with the humidity can make going anywhere but the beach a chore. We’d say come a few months earlier in the spring or a few months later in the fall if given a choice.
Fall: More rain begins to fall in November as the trades increase to their winter levels, and there are days where rain showers will dominate on the windward coast and mauka areas. While Hawai'i had been going through a fairly dry spell for several years, 2006 was a year of almost extreme precipitation amounts, causing flooding on many islands in the early winter months. 2007-2008 have also been considerably wetter when compared to recent years; and many say Hawai'i is returning to its more "true" weather cycle. A Kona storm in late 2007 dumped a tremendous amount of rain on the islands and caused wind damage in several areas. Kona storms, in general, can be quite nasty in Hawai' when they do hit. So what exactly IS a Kona storm?
When a Kona storm develops or moves into the area, the prevailing wind pattern changes - south and southwesterly winds replace the trades. Since the winds typically affect the Kona coast of the Big Island, the storms have thus taken on that name.
Although destructive Kona storms are relatively rare, they occur often enough to warrant a mention here. Kona storms bring high winds, heavy rain, snow atop higher mountains (like Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island), lightning and thunder can occur (a rarity in Hawai'i). Due to extreme terrain differences in the islands weather conditions can be highly variable across a relatively small area. Gusts of winds up to 60 miles per hour have been known to happen on the Big Island, while other portions of the Hawaiian chain were simply dealing with increases breezes.
"High season" for traveling begins in mid-December which typically causes rates for flights, tours, and accommodations to the islands to rise. In general the fall months and the spring months are very similar. Like in the spring, the Big Island of Hawai'i can become quite busy during October as a major event is held on the island. Typically in October, the Ironman Triathlon event is held on the Kona side of the Big Island of Hawaii. Check online calendars for the exact dates each year.
Page 2 of 3 pages for this article < 1 2 3 >
Topic Views: 8718
87°F
ALOHA AND MAHALO
Est6her and Tony Zimmermann