Winter Weather in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park United States

Daily high temperatures are around 72°F, rarely falling below 67°F or exceeding 75°F.

Daily low temperatures are around 54°F, rarely falling below 48°F or exceeding 59°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 52°F on January 28.

For reference, on August 5, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park typically range from 58°F to 77°F, while on January 25, the coldest day of the year, they range from 52°F to 71°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

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The winter in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park experiences decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 40% to 29%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 26% on January 19.

The clearest day of the winter is January 19, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 74% of the time.

For reference, on October 27, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 49%, while on August 7, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 76%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is essentially constant, remaining around 28% throughout.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 34% on March 29, and its lowest chance is 23% on August 30.

Rainfall

To show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is increasing, starting the season at 4.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 12.3 inches, and ending the season at 5.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 17.2 inches or falls below 0.1 inches.

Over the course of the winter in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 43 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 29 seconds, and weekly increase of 3 minutes, 23 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is December 20, with 10 hours, 58 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 45 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the winter in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is 6:39 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 19 minutes later at 6:58 AM on January 18.

The earliest sunset is 5:41 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 45 minutes later at 6:26 PM on February 28.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park during 2024.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:43 AM and sets 13 hours, 18 minutes later, at 7:02 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:50 AM and sets 10 hours, 58 minutes later, at 5:48 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is gradually decreasing during the winter, falling from 5% to 0% over the course of the season.

The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 0% on February 15.

For reference, on August 12, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 26% of the time, while on February 15, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is gradually decreasing during the winter, decreasing from 10.8 miles per hour to 9.8 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on April 6, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 11.0 miles per hour, while on January 12, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.0 miles per hour.

The lowest daily average wind speed during the winter is 9.0 miles per hour on January 12.

The hourly average wind direction in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park throughout the winter is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 80% on December 1.

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average surface water temperature in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is gradually decreasing during the winter, falling by 2°F, from 78°F to 76°F, over the course of the season.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

Temperatures in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 3,902°F, from 4,518°F to 616°F, over the course of the season.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.3 kWh, from 4.5 kWh to 5.8 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 4.5 kWh on December 16.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park are 19.419 deg latitude, -155.288 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 0 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 0 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). Within 50 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is covered by bare soil (45%) and shrubs (35%), within 10 miles by shrubs (34%) and trees (33%), and within 50 miles by water (53%) and shrubs (14%).