What is the best season for traveling to Hawaii, and does it really have the best climate in the United States? When can you catch the sunshine and clear blue skies?

With the exception of Easter Island, Hawaii is the remotest place in the world, some 2000 miles or so from the nearest major land mass. This has a great effect on the climate, and means that it's a good place to visit at any time of year. In winter the cold air that heads down through the Pacific from the Arctic travels that long distance over a warmer ocean, and one that gets increasingly warm the further south the air travels. The cold air picks up warmth from the water and is quite mild by the time it gets all the way to Hawaii.

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Hawaii Climate: Hawaii's Seasons

Some people say there are only two seasons in Hawaii: summer, which runs from May to October, and winter, which is the rest of the year. Locals joke that there are only two seasons, too: the season of tropical storms, which runs from April to November, and the season of winter storms, from November through March. Others say there are three seasons, spring, summer and fall, because Hawaii doesn't have a winter.

In fact Hawaii doesn't have regular storms, but they do tend to be severe when they come, and they can come at any time of year. But they are storms of heavy rain and strong winds – they are not the hurricanes that affect other parts of the USA.

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Hawaii Climate: Temperatures

Hawaii has a moderate temperature all the year round. The humidity is moderate, too, which makes it a good place to escape the hot and clammy summers of the Midwest and the Deep South. Hawaii is constantly cooled by the trade winds, which keep the humidity down.

Temperatures do vary from place to place, but in Honolulu, for example, the only big city in Hawaii, it seldom drops below 80 degrees. That's in the coldest month, January, while the hottest months are September and October when the temperature averages 89 degrees.

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Hawaii Climate: Length of Days

The fact that Hawaii is in the tropics (the only US state like that) means that days are fairly long all the year round. Even in winter you'll get 11 hours of daylight, compared to 8-9 hours in New England. And in summer the daylight lasts for about 13.5 hours.

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Hawaii Climate: the Best Season for Swimming

If you like to go swimming in the sea, then September and October are the best times to visit. The seas around Hawaii don't vary too much in temperature, and you can swim comfortably all the year through, but in September and October sea temperatures will be at their peak, which is about 80 degrees. The coldest time of year for swimming is about February/March, when the sea temperatures will drop to about 73-74 degrees.

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Hawaii Climate: Rainfall

Hawaii can boast that it has the wettest place on earth within its boundaries. Not that the local tourism people would boast about this curious fact. But the top of the inactive volcano called Wai'ale'ale is covered by clouds for about 300 days a year, and received an average of 1.5 inches of rainfall every single day. This gives it the dubious honor of being the wettest place on earth.

To put this into perspective, Hawaii also has some of the driest regions on the planet, such as the Kau desert. When seeing average rainfall and temperature figures for Hawaii, always bear in mind these huge differences. The weather in Hawaii is also very localized, and there can be great differences between places just a few miles apart.

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Hawaii Climate: When's the Best Time to Go?

Hawaii has an agreeable climate all the year round, which is why it is such a popular vacation destination. You might be unlucky and coincide with a run of bad weather and storms, but this can happen anywhere and at any time of year. It is also much less likely to happen in hawaii than in many other top vacation destinations.

The bottom line on Hawaii's climate is this: the best time to go is now. Get booking that vacation!

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