Where is the sunniest place in Hawaii to live?|104595

I am planning a move, in the next year or so and I have been hearing a lot about how different the weather can be from one island to the next and even from one side of an island or another. I am not a big fan of rain and would really like a sunnier place to live. What parts of what islands are sunny most of the time. I was thinking I wanted to move to Kailua Kona but I am unsure if the weather will be right for me.

The southern _ western shores of each island will have the sunniest weather. They are the leeward parts of the islands. The north _ east sides are the windward sides _ are more likely to be wet. The prevailing trade winds blow the clouds into the mountains at the center of the island. They get hung up there _ consequently much of the rain falls on the windward sides.

One caution regarding Kona... it is the area that is most likely to have vog (volcanic haze). Sometimes it is not a problem, but this year there has been an unusual amount of vog, resulting from the volcanic activity on the Big Island. If you have asthma, this could be an important consideration.

The clue_s right in the name. Kona means _leeward_, which means in the rainshadow of a mountain. The predominant weather pattern in these islands involves trade winds or _trades_ blowing from the northeast. Places on the leeward side of the mountains get blocked from both the cooling breezes and the rains. That makes it hot and dry in Kaunakakai, Molokai; Poipu, Kauai; Honolulu and Nanakuli, Oahu; Kihei and Lahaina, Maui; and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

On the other hand, Kailua, Oahu is on the windward side of the island, gets plenty of rain, is lush and green, cool, with beautiful waterfalls. Same with Hilo, Hana, Hanalei, and Molokai_s Halawa Valley.

Kailua-Kona has just about the most predictable weather in the world. Up the slope, the coffee plantations get plenty of moisture (windward and mauka showers), but down at the beach, it_s almost always dry. Kona storms in the wintertime can bring moist air up from equitorial regions and just dump rain all over the islands for days. But the in the summertime, you might go for months in a leeward area and only see a few hundredths of an inch of precipitation.

Having lived in just such a place for four years, I was pretty happy to move up a slope to a place where I could catch a breeze and a raindrop now and again. Still get plenty sun!

Your plan to move should be planned very carefully and not based only on how the weather is going to be. There are a lot of factors to consider before you make your move. If money is no object than by all means bring it to Hawaii. The Diamond Head and Kahala area has the best of the two worlds. Cool breezes, nice beaches, lots of sunshine and very convenient to restaurannts, entertainment, golf, and parks.
Aloha

Most people like living towards the windward side of the island. Kona is leeward like the guy said, but unusually green unlike Oahu_s leeward side which is tends towards being dry.

You want to watch the sun rise or set?

On Oahu, the new area out toward Ewa, Kapolei might be what you are looking for, but I know very little bit about it. It was built after my time although I was raised in Maili, Waianae and Makaha when I was child.

Sunny, you can always jump in your car and chase after the sun in Hawaii.


WE CHASED THE SUN
Sunset Cliffs

We chased the sun
With the Datsun.

Rains fell Leeward.
We flew Windward.

Clouds dropped Windward.
We drove Leeward.

Our sun shade
Tracked its Sunmaid.

The road lifted.
The steam drifted.

The hanging rain
Trailed the octane.

Ponds marked the gold.
Our eyes rolled.

Wind freed passions
Pushed pulsations.

Wet oil bead drips
Held the cloth strips.

Casts stained the sand
Where bodies tanned.

Then, you said _Bye_.
I don_t know why,

The sun gods fell;
I fell as well.

We chased the sun
With the Datsun.


1996 Bobby Gilbert

if you want a really sunny place to live, then come here to Ewa. Ewa is on the south of Oahu, its very flat here, and very dry. when its raining in Honolulu, by the time the clouds drift over Ewa, they_re usually as white as cotton and spread out so that you can still see the blue sky.

whenever it does rain, its mostly during winter and the beginning of spring. usually its not a lot. (it was raining this morning, but by 10am the sun was shining).

ofcourse.. during the rainy season it can sometimes get a little out of hand. a year before my family moved to Ewa there was a flood that came up to peoples knees. when my family moved in, i could still see mildew on the houses marking how high the water was. [but the flood happened because there wasnt a very good drainage system at the time.]

then when i was in middle school, there was the 40 days and 40 nights of non stop rain throughout the whole state. [it was miserable.. my family could only take cold showers because our water heater was solar powered]

recently the weather has been very dry. so if you move here, i think you_ll be fine.


hope this helped.