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Weather

The short of it

Let’s face it: Kauai is a rainy place. You need to know that it’s:

 Rainier on the north shore, which gets up to 45 inches of rain a year

 Less rainy on the east side, which gets up to 30 inches of rain a year

 Driest on the south and west, which get as little as 5 inches a year at Polihale and up to 20 inches a year at Poipu.

 Rainy in the mountains, like Kokee State Park, especially the nearer you get to Mt. Waialeale, the rainiest spot on Earth.

If you want to get away from the rain, head for the south and west coasts. The image on the previous page summarizes the situation.

The long of it

Hawaii’s weather is temperate to a degree that puts the so-called “temperate” zones of the world to shame. The humidity is moderate, too: 50–60%, not the sweltering horror of some other tropical lands. You are still in the northern hemisphere, so it is warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter, but nothing like the sweltering/freezing mainland.

Hawaii’s mild climate is determined largely by its tropical location and also by the northeast trade winds that sweep across it. The north-east trade winds—so-called because sea captains took advantage of them on their trade routes—are dependable, steady winds that blow from the northeast west across the thousands of miles of open sea that separate the Hawaiian Islands from the continents. They are responsible for keeping the temperature and the humidity moderate. Since they are the prevailing winds in this area, the side of the island that faces them is called the “windward” side. The opposite side of the island is the opposite of windward; in nautical terms, “leeward.”

Sometimes the trade winds fail and are replaced by “kona” winds from the south. “Kona” means “leeward,” because it’s the leeward side of the island that more or less faces these occasional winds. Kona winds bring hot, sticky air. Fortunately, they are rare in summer, when they would be really unpleasant, and occur mostly in winter, when the lower overall temperatures moderate their effect. Kona storms are subtropical low-pressure systems that occur in winter, move in from the south, and can cause serious damage. There is apparently no pattern to them; in some years, they do not occur at all, but in others they occur every few weeks.

On Kauai, average temperatures along the coast range from highs of 79–84° F to lows of 60–68° F. The “cooler” ones are winter temperatures, the warmer ones summer. It’s rainier from November through March than it is the rest of the year. Expect colder temperatures, more wind, and considerably more rain if you are in a mountainous region, like Kokee State Park.

You may have read that Mt. Waialeale, Kauai’s second highest peak, is the wettest place on earth. What that means is that over many years, Waialeale has had the highest average annual rainfall (I’ve seen figures ranging from 450 to 480 inches annually). Other places may have a year or two of torrential rains that exceed that figure. But on Mt. Waialeale, every year is that rainy. The trade winds pick up a great deal of moisture on their long sweep across the open ocean to Kauai. The first serious obstacle they encounter on Kauai is Waialeale, and there they unburden themselves. Rain clouds enshroud both Waialeale and Kawaikini, Kauai’s highest peak and Waialeale’s neighbor, almost constantly; it’s a rare moment when you can see them. The huge amount of rain they get nourishes all of Kauai. West of Waialeale and Kawaikini lies an immense, forbidding swamp, the Alakai Swamp, maintained by the constant rains and home to some of earth’s rarest plants and animals. However, Waialeale’s constant rain need not concern you much, as there are no trails to Waialeale.

The driest sections of Kauai are along the southern and western coasts approximately from the big resort area at Poipu to desertlike Polihale and on up the Na Pali Coast almost to Hanakoa Valley. The east coast gets more rain; the north coast still more; and the mountain interior the most. At any given time, it is almost certainly raining some-where on Kauai, but in the coastal regions, it’s seldom prolonged or unpleasant. The passing showers offer you a chance to enjoy rainbows with your hikes. But if you’d rather not be rained on, head for the southern or the western coast.

If it’s rainy on the coast, you can be pretty sure it will be even rainier in the mountains. You may want to postpone your visit to Kokee State Park or Waimea Canyon State Park for a drier day. Or walk mountain roads instead of mountain trails; see the trips for suggestions.

You can’t expect resort-quality weather in hiking areas!

The relatively dry, sunny weather advertised for Hawaii is typical only of a few coastal resort areas, like Kauai’s Poipu and Polihale areas. That’s why Kauai’s biggest and busiest resorts are in the Poipu area. Much of Hawaii, including most of Kauai, is covered with rainforests and is very wet. That’s where the most beautiful and interesting hikes are! Be prepared for rain when you hit the trail, and consequently for weather markedly cooler than that of the resort you’ve left behind, especially if the trail is in the mountains.