What's up with the torrential rains Hawaii has been getting. I read on this board about rain there 2 weeks ago, and now I have a severe weather alert on my Kahului site on Yahoo. I went to the video and it is really coming down. Anyone heard why, or is this a common spring thing there??? Or is this El Nino???
Frank

Hawaii, esp Maui, suffered terrible droughts during the last El Nino 4 years ago.
The same water temp patterns are apparent now which suggest another El Nino is brewing.
Check the following website for details: http://www.stormsurf.com/page2/enso/current.shtml
The orange streak just west of Central America and northern South America is indicative of El Nino pattern developing.

As for typical weather on Maui:
Kahului averages:

Avg Hi Temp:
Jan-80
Feb-80
Mar-81
Apr-82
May-84
Jun-86
Jul-87
Aug-88
Sep-88
Oct-87
Nov-84
Dec-81

Precip:
Year=19.8 inches (Kaanapali=13.9;
J-3.9
F-2.8
M-2.6
A-1.7
M-0.7
J-0.3
J-0.5
A-0.5
S-0.4
O-1.1
N-2.4
D-2.9

# Clear Days:
131/yr
J-13
F-12
M-11
A-8
M-9
J-11
J-11
A-12
S-12
O-11
N-11
D-12

Mr. Weather,
Thanks for the note. Very interesting. But what is causing the strange rains that have been rampaging Hawaii the past few weeks. I was at one web site that mentioned they are really getting rained on. Sounds very strange indeed.
Frank

It's Monday the 13th of May 'round 5:30PM and I am looking at some blue skies w/no wind...which could mean that there are more rains coming. Last night we were treated to lightning and thunder which added some excitement to the kids' lives. Most will blame this unusual weather to the El Nino effect. I'm no meteorologist so I wouldn't know. This morning looked like Seattle on a grey winter day. The upswing on all this is that we (hoepfully!) won't have a water shortage this Summer, and the mountains are as green and lush as I have ever seen them! The waterfalls and valleys are in their prime at the moment.....

The rain is great! We've been under drought conditions for the past few years so the rains are welcomed, helps rebuild the dwindling watersheds that supply all the water!

Speaking of rain - is there a specific "rainy season" in Hawaii? We're thinking of going again in March and the last time we went in March felt pretty wet. Should we wait a little later?

Technically, winter is the "rainy season" just like in California. But I've been to Hawaii in winter and summer and noticed very little difference. Was there March 2001 and March 2002 and hardly any rain.

Does it rain much in July? My hubsband and I are planning a trip to Maui in the early part of July. Was curious how the weather will be around that time.

Victoria

Frank,

Where in Maui are you planning to visit; or was this just a general question? We just returned from Maui and, although we didn't have clear-blue cloudless sunny skis like last year, it never really rained in Kaanapali. Most mornings would start out with a few clouds, more high clouds would move in, and by the evening there would be cloud cover (6 of 8 nites). But it only drizzled for a few minutes here and there a couple days and maybe a downpour around midnight one day. The mountains always had dark clouds over them and seemed to suck up all the moisture. We also noticed the dark clouds stuck to Wailuku (sp?), though we never hit rain the few times we were in Kahului.

Hope this helps.