Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and sank numerous boats. Hurricane Iwa in 1982 crept close to the islands, although Maui
is situated outside the hurricane belt.
Although
earthquakes
are rare, a large temblor on October 15, 2006, caused enough
damage to close the “back road” to Hana for the better part of two years due to landslides
and structural damage to bridges.
Maui, Lana'i, and Moloka'i have weather similar to that of the rest of the Hawaiian Is-
lands. The weather on Maui depends more on where you are than on the season, and the
average daily temperature along the coast is about 78°F (25.5°C) in summer and about
72°F (22°C) in winter. On Haleakala summit, the average is 43-50°F (6-10°C), although
snow can fall in rare winter storms. The lowest temperature ever recorded on Maui was
atop Haleakala in 1961, when it dropped well below freezing to a low, low 11°F. In con-
trast, sunny Kihei has recorded a blistering 98°F.
Maui has wonderful weather, and because of near-constant breezes, the air is usually
clear and clean. Traffic and weather conditions never create smog, but because of burning
cane fields, Maui air will at times become smoky, a condition that usually rectifies itself in
a day when the winds are blowing. On rarer occasions, a volcanic haze, known as VOG,
will filter over the island from the Big Island. If it's hazy, doesn't smell of smoke, and
nothing has been burning, it's probably VOG.
On Lana'i, the average summer temperature along the coast is about 80°F, while the
average winter temperature is about 70°F. It can be as much as 10 degrees cooler in Lana'i
City, which sits in the cooler uplands.
Precipitation
Rain on Maui is as much a factor as it is elsewhere in Hawai'i. On any day, somewhere on
Maui it's raining, while other areas experience drought. A dramatic example of this phe-
nomenon is a comparison of Lahaina with Pu'u Kukui, both in West Maui and separated
by only seven miles. Lahaina, which translates as “Merciless Sun,” is hot, arid, and gets
only 15 inches of rainfall annually, while Pu'u Kukui can receive close to 400 inches (33
feet!
) of precipitation. Other leeward towns get a comparable amount of rain to Lahaina,
but as you move upcountry and around the north coast, the rains become more frequent. In
Hana, rainfall is about five times as great as on the leeward side, averaging more than 80
inches per year.
