Rainy Season in Hawaii: Month by Month
Quick answer: Hawaii’s rainy season is the winter — the opposite of almost everywhere else in this list. Honolulu’s wettest month is March (98 mm (3.9 in) across 15 rain days) and its driest is June (35 mm (1.4 in)); Maui, Kauaʻi and the Kona coast all follow the same shape. No month here is dry the way a dry season is dry: even the quietest still brings 9 rain days.
Pick a destination to see its weather month by month and the best time to go, or pick a month to see where the weather is at its best.
Tokyo · a city trip
Good: Mar–May, Oct–DecNo month is ideal for a city trip by our rule, but these come close.
- Warmest
- Aug · 89°F
- Coolest
- Jan · 49°F
- Wettest
- Jul · 16 rain days
- Averages for 2006–2025: any single year can be hotter, colder or wetter.
Weather from NASA POWER daily data, 2006–2025, for the ~50 km area around each place. Right on the coast, afternoons can be a few degrees warmer than shown.
| Month | High / low (°F) | Rain days | Rain (in) | Storms within 100 mi | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49° / 34° | 5 | 2.4 | Off (too cold) | |
| Feb | 51° / 35° | 7 | 3.1 | Off (too cold) | |
| Mar | 57° / 40° | 12 | 5.1 | Good (cool, showery) | |
| Apr | 65° / 48° | 12 | 6 | Good (showery) | |
| May | 73° / 58° | 13 | 6.6 | Good (showery) | |
| Jun | 79° / 65° | 16 | 8.1 | Off (too wet) | |
| Jul | 86° / 73° | 16 | 6.5 | Off (too wet) | |
| Aug | 89° / 75° | 15 | 5.4 | Off (too hot) | |
| Sep | 82° / 70° | 16 | 8.7 | Off (too wet) | |
| Oct | 72° / 59° | 14 | 8.9 | Good (showery) | |
| Nov | 63° / 48° | 11 | 4.4 | Good (showery) | |
| Dec | 54° / 39° | 7 | 3.2 | Good (cool) |
The tool above opens on Honolulu (Oʻahu): change the place or the month to yours, or compare Maui (Kahului), Kona (Big Island) and Kauaʻi (Līhuʻe). Below, Hawaii month by month — rain, rain days and how warm it is.
Hawaii month by month
Average rainfall and the number of days with at least 1 mm of rain, 2006–2025. On this page a month counts as wet when it gets more rain than an average month in that place (more than a twelfth of its year), and dry when it gets less than half an average month. The months in between are the shoulder.
| Month | Honolulu (Oʻahu) | Maui (Kahului) | Kona (Big Island) | Kauaʻi (Līhuʻe) | Honolulu (Oʻahu): rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11 days — shoulder | 12 days — wet | 11 days — shoulder | 10 days — shoulder | 58 mm (2.3 in) |
| February | 13 days — wet | 13 days — wet | 13 days — wet | 12 days — wet | 76 mm (3.0 in) |
| March | 15 days — wet | 17 days — wet | 20 days — wet | 17 days — wet | 98 mm (3.9 in) |
| April | 12 days — shoulder | 13 days — shoulder | 16 days — wet | 12 days — shoulder | 54 mm (2.1 in) |
| May | 11 days — shoulder | 10 days — shoulder | 17 days — wet | 11 days — shoulder | 43 mm (1.7 in) |
| June | 9 days — shoulder | 9 days — shoulder | 16 days — shoulder | 9 days — shoulder | 35 mm (1.4 in) |
| July | 10 days — shoulder | 10 days — shoulder | 14 days — shoulder | 11 days — shoulder | 39 mm (1.5 in) |
| August | 9 days — shoulder | 11 days — shoulder | 15 days — shoulder | 9 days — shoulder | 41 mm (1.6 in) |
| September | 11 days — shoulder | 11 days — shoulder | 13 days — shoulder | 11 days — shoulder | 47 mm (1.9 in) |
| October | 14 days — wet | 14 days — wet | 14 days — shoulder | 13 days — shoulder | 65 mm (2.6 in) |
| November | 15 days — wet | 15 days — wet | 16 days — wet | 14 days — wet | 72 mm (2.8 in) |
| December | 16 days — wet | 15 days — wet | 16 days — wet | 16 days — wet | 98 mm (3.9 in) |
Honolulu (Oʻahu) is wet in Feb–Mar, Oct–Dec and shoulder in Jan, Apr–Sep. Maui (Kahului) is wet in Oct–Mar and shoulder in Apr–Sep. Kona (Big Island) is wet in Feb–May, Nov–Dec and shoulder in Jan, Jun–Oct. Kauaʻi (Līhuʻe) is wet in Feb–Mar, Nov–Dec and shoulder in Jan, Apr–Oct. In this record January sits inside Honolulu (Oʻahu)’s wet run and is 33% drier than the months either side of it.
The gap between Hawaii’s wet and dry months is small by tropical standards. Honolulu’s whole year is 726 mm (28.6 in), and its wettest month (98 mm (3.9 in)) is under three times its driest (35 mm (1.4 in)) — a ratio most places on this page beat several times over. The season is therefore a weak reason to pick your dates in Hawaii, and the trade winds and the surf are better ones.
The wettest and driest months
Honolulu (Oʻahu): wettest in March (98 mm (3.9 in), 15 rain days), driest in June (35 mm (1.4 in), 9 rain days). Maui (Kahului): wettest in March (79 mm (3.1 in), 17 rain days), driest in June (27 mm (1.1 in), 9 rain days). Kona (Big Island): wettest in March (138 mm (5.4 in), 20 rain days), driest in September (43 mm (1.7 in), 13 rain days). Kauaʻi (Līhuʻe): wettest in March (121 mm (4.8 in), 17 rain days), driest in June (38 mm (1.5 in), 9 rain days). Over the year, Honolulu (Oʻahu) gets 726 mm (28.6 in).
The best months to go
Honolulu (Oʻahu): Jun, Aug · Maui (Kahului): Jan–Feb, Apr–Oct · Kona (Big Island): Jan–Feb, Jul–Oct · Kauaʻi (Līhuʻe): Jun, Aug. When to Go rates every month on temperature, rain days and storms — open Honolulu (Oʻahu) in the tool above and step through the year.
Plan it
- Where to go in Hawaii for the first time
- Is island hopping in Hawaii worth it?
- What not to miss in Honolulu
- Honolulu (Oʻahu)’s weather, month by month
- Where to travel this month
- Hurricane season in Hawaii
FAQ
When is the rainy season in Hawaii?
Feb–Mar, Oct–Dec — the months that get more rain than an average month in Honolulu (Oʻahu). March is the wettest, at 98 mm (3.9 in) across 15 rain days, against 35 mm (1.4 in) in June (NASA POWER, 2006–2025).
Does it rain all day in the rainy season in Hawaii?
The measure here is a day with at least 1 mm of rain, not a day of rain. In March, Honolulu (Oʻahu) averages 15 rain days out of 31, with an average high of 76°F / 25°C, and January in the middle of the season is drier than the months either side of it.
What is the driest month in Hawaii?
June, at 35 mm (1.4 in) across 9 rain days. No month here drops below half an average month, so the year has a wetter half rather than a dry season.
When is the best time to visit Hawaii?
When to Go rates Jun, Aug the best months for Honolulu (Oʻahu), on temperature, rain days and — where it applies — storms. The other places on this page have their own; open the tool above on each.
Does Hawaii have a hurricane season as well?
Yes, June 1 to November 30 — and it does not line up with the rain, which comes in winter. Storms near the islands are rare: see hurricane season in Hawaii for every storm since 1976.
Which Hawaiian island is the driest?
Of the four here, Maui (Kahului) at 597 mm (23.5 in) a year, against Kona’s 940 mm (37.0 in) on the Big Island. All four are leeward, resort-side towns; the windward side of every island is much wetter.
How these numbers are made
Daily rainfall and temperature from NASA POWER (MERRA-2), averaged over 2006–2025; a rain day is a day with at least 1 mm. Each island town’s square also takes in the mountains behind it, which are far wetter than the beach, so these totals run above what falls on the sand. POWER works on a grid of about 50 km, so each place here is its neighbourhood rather than its own rain gauge: a coast, a small island or a valley under a mountain can differ from the square it sits in. The months are the part that holds; treat a single millimetre figure as an average, not a forecast.