Lisa

I would appreciate it if you would answer a weather question for me. I have read alot about El Nino reappearing this year. We have been planning and saving for this trip for quite awhile and hope not to be too disappointed due to the weather. We were hoping for mostly sunny skies, of course, for our second honeymoon. We spent our honeymoon in Hawaii 21 years ago and had absolutely GORGEOUS weather for 2 weeks in October.

Have you personally experienced a greater amount of poor weather conditions this year, or has the El Nino effect been just hype? We would like to know now, so we are not disappointed when we get there. I know that we cannot predict Mother Nature, just hoping for an idea of what you are experiencing so far this Spring and Summer.

By the way, we will be spending 3 weeks on Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island.

Thanks, in advance, to all who can help!

lcuy

We had a very dry fall and early winter, then a very wet spring and some wet and windy days this summmer. I wouldn't reccomend planning a trip based on past performance. Last El Nino was completely different than what hed been forecast!

Lisa

Icuy, I am not sure if you recommend that we stay with our plans to visit this year, or wait until next year? The summer is the only time we can visit for 3 weeks.

Melissa

Lisa, it's hard to say, but in the past few years we have had hot, humid weather in Honolulu from the end of August till the end of October (or thereabouts). And, you would need some forecasts from people on those islands to know for sure, as our state is known for its subclimates. You can drive 15 miles in one direction and end up with totally different weather! I can also tell you that Maui tends to be hotter than Oahu (I always feel like I'm baking in my Maui rental car!) and Kauai tends to be wetter (thus its reputation as the lush, green Garden Isle). On the Big Island, Kona is hot & dry and Hilo is lush & wet.

That was my long way of saying, "It depends." I agree with lcuy, you can't predict El Nino weather based on past performance. Hawaii is beautiful no matter what!

lcuy

The last el nino, i believe was followed by La nina. That year had more lousy weather, but again, you'r etalking about a bit more rain and wind, but still mixed with gorgeous sunny days. In addition, you can also escape the clouds by either waiting a half hour or in extreme cases by just driving to a different part of the island. The odds are that you will have beautiful weather.

joekahuna

Just get over here and don't worry.

Lisa

Thank you Melissa and Icuy. If I am understanding you correctly, even if there is more rain and wind this year, due to El Nino, I should not expect heavy, driving rains day after day, or for the greater part of any one day. The rain should most likely be spotty.

Melissa, I understand about the micro-climates. I have done a lot of research for this trip since it will be such a big investment for us -time and money. I just wanted to know if I should expect any more rain in a particular area, this year, than you would normally get in that area any other year, for August.

Thanks again for your time and interest.

El Nino

Lisa,

If you would just post the exact days you will be at the various islands, I will tell you exactly the weather I have chosen for that particular day.

By the way, it may change depending on La Nina. She can be a bitch.

El Nino

Sorry, can't get the ~ over Nino and Nina. Live with it.

Sarah

Weather forcasts are predicting and increased chance of tropical showers and hurricanes this summer and a dry winter, you can verify by doing a quick search on the internet. I am taking my chances and going. I have lived in Hawaii in other El Nino years I can't ever recall rain for 21 days straight. But as other posters have suggested you can not predict El Nino. I like to hope "increased showers" will occur after my vacation. Thing is I also know that I can go back next year and probably the year after. So think about what is best for you.

I will tell you that we are three fair skinned women going over, last summmer it rained more than any other vacation I took. My sister and her family loved it. We were able to hike harder, it was never terential, just cooled us off. When we took the second part of our trip on lanikai and had straight sunny days we were a bit put off. Weird I know just appreciate what you get when you go. Landscape changes with rain, waterfalls are at their peak, rainbows come out, and you would not believe the dream like quality your photos take on with a touch of mist.

You can also track the weather yourself at the weather channel website. I have Hanalei weather emailed to me every morning. You can get 5-10 and 15 day forecasts. I suspect you can see what the weather has done so far.

sss

one more thing... I have not read one travel report on here that complained of non-stop rain. There were a few for Kauai's North Shore in winter when it is expected but still others who experienced little to know rain there in winter. I suggest you look up recent travel reports and see what people found.

Melissa

Regarding weather on the internet: I don't know if anyone else had the same experience, but I was using weather.com to predict what to pack for my Europe trip this past May. Boy, was it wrong! It predicted these cold temps and thunderstorms. When I got there, it was blistering hot. I'm not trying to put you off or anything, just sharing my weather experience, just in case.

sss

I find that it is not always accurate either but not to the degree that Melissa describes.

I have been seeing a windy, cloudy forecast predicted for Hanalei it sounds like that is what people are describing here. So hard to predict. Much of the forecasts for Kauai unless you are very specific give you Lihue climates. Hanalei is a rainier side of the island so these Lihue climates might not be helpful. I remember getting Lihue reports even when I was on the island. ... not a good predictor on the day. I remember it pouring outside and the forecaster on the weather channel saying it was partly cloudy and a chance of rain. This was a local broadcast segment on the weather channel. Again they were probably using Lihue as a measure for the entire island. I wonder if on the Big Island this is the same thing. Kona is more populated (yes?) and dryer. I wonder if you get Kona temperatures instead of Hilo, where you might be headed for volcano.

Lisa

Thanks to everyone who helped!