Weather & Climate

Rainfall and Storms

The wettest months in Hawaii are from November through March, but winter rains do not generally disrupt vacation plans, since the weather tends to be very localized. This means that if it is raining where you are, there is usually a sunny spot to be found around the coast. And rains often pass quickly. Sometimes it will go from sunshine to rain to mist to sunshine again in just minutes!

Rain. Photo courtesy C. Engelhardt

The nearly constant trade winds here mean that there is usually a cooling breeze. The trades normally build as the heat of the day rises, and they reach their peak in the afternoon, then diminish in the evening. Several times during the year the trade winds will stop completely and the wind will switch around to come out of the south or west, bringing stormy or hot sticky weather. Islanders call this “Kona” (leeward) weather, because this is the direction from which these weather systems arrive. Stormy weather comes to the islands, primarily in the winter and sometimes lingers for several days. Severe storms, however, are uncommon.