Hurricane Season

Hawaii hurricane season, explained

Hurricane season in Hawaii runs from June 1 to November 30, the Central Pacific season tracked by the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

BestMay29° / 22° · 21mmAvoidSeptember31° / 24° · 22mmNowNovember29° / 22° · Peak
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The season in one line: June 1 to November 30

Hawaii sits in the central Pacific, which has its own hurricane season, separate from the Atlantic and Caribbean one. The National Weather Service office in Honolulu gives it as June 1 to November 30. A near-normal season has 4 or 5 tropical cyclones across the whole central Pacific, the ocean between 140°W and the International Date Line, and that count includes storms that never come near the islands.

The National Hurricane Center notes that moderate to strong El Niño years bring more central Pacific activity and more late-season storms, so the risk changes from year to year.

Hurricane season is Honolulu's dry season

Unlike the Caribbean, Hawaii's storm months are not its rainy months. Honolulu gets just 13mm of rain in June and July and 21–22mm in August and September, against 47–60mm a month from November to March. The risk in the season is a passing storm, not daily rain. September is also among the hottest months, with 31°C highs, which is part of why our worst time to visit Hawaii guide flags it.

Hurricanes that have affected Hawaii

  • Iniki, 11 September 1992, category 4. Iniki turned north and made direct landfall on Kauai, according to the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency.
  • Lane, August 2018, no landfall. Lane became only the fifth category 5 hurricane on record in the central Pacific, then weakened as it passed within 130 nautical miles of the islands on 24–25 August. It still dropped 58.00 inches of rain at Kahuna Falls on the Big Island, a state record for a tropical cyclone, according to the NHC and CPHC report.

Lane is the more useful lesson for travellers: a storm does not have to come ashore to close roads, trails and beaches. The National Hurricane Center notes that storms that do not make landfall in Hawaii can still cause considerable damage, mostly from wind and surf.

If your dates fall in hurricane season

  • Book flexible. Pick refundable hotel rates and flights you can change, and buy travel insurance when you book, before a storm has a name.
  • Watch the forecast. Follow the National Weather Service in Honolulu for watches and warnings; our live storm tracker shows active storms.
  • Respect flood warnings. When a storm passes close, heavy rain is the main hazard. Skip stream crossings, waterfall hikes and valley trails until warnings are lifted.
  • Or go in April or May. Both are outside the season and among Honolulu's driest months (20mm and 21mm). The best time to visit Hawaii guide covers every month.

Your Hawaii cheat sheet

One email with the whole year in it — and the questions that actually change a trip there, answered.

  • All 12 months scored 0–100
  • When storm risk peaks, and the calmer months to book
  • The questions that change the plan, answered
  • Plus the Travel Timing Calendar 2027: every destination, every month (PDF)

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The year at a glance

Twelve months, three seasons

Each cell is one month. Lemon means peak, sky means shoulder, gray means avoid. The outlined cell is the current month.

Hawaii in January: Shoulder.Hawaii in February: Shoulder.Hawaii in March: Shoulder.Hawaii in April: Peak.Hawaii in May: Peak.Hawaii in June: Peak.Hawaii in July: Peak.Hawaii in August: Shoulder.Hawaii in September: Avoid.Hawaii in October: Peak.Hawaii in November: Peak.Hawaii in December: Shoulder.
Peak seasonShoulderAvoid

Atlas Ranger Score · proprietary

When Hawaii scores best, month by month

Our transparent 0–100 score blends weather comfort, crowds, value and festivals into one number per month. How it's calculated →

80/100Greatannual average
  • Best monthMay 84
  • Best valueJanuary 84 off-peak
  • ToughestSeptember 80
84Jan84Feb84Mar87Apr84★May78Jun76Jul74Aug80Sep74Oct76Nov81Dec

See how Hawaii ranks against every destination on the Best Time to Travel leaderboard →

Explore the map

Every city, every month

Drag the month scrubber, hover any city, read the headline for that window.

Loading seasonality map…
Conditions right now
Right now in Hawaii: 24°C, clear sky.
Feels like24°C
Humidity79%
Wind45 km/h
UV (clear sky)1 Low
Today⛅27° 24°0 mm
Tue⛅27° 23°0 mm
Wed🌤️26° 23°0.1 mm
Thu⛅26° 23°1.4 mm
Fri⛅26° 23°0.4 mm
Forecast updated Nov 9, 5:18 PM UTC · Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

United States vs Nearby Destinations

vs Maldives

Hawaii is the better all-round trip — hiking, volcanoes, surf, real towns, and no true bad month. The Maldives wins on water clarity and pure resort seclusion but has a genuine wet season (May–October). Pick Hawaii for variety and drive-yourself freedom; pick the Maldives for an overwater-villa reset.

vs Bali

Bali is far cheaper and more culturally dense; Hawaii is easier, safer in the water, and has no monsoon. Bali's wet season (December–March) is far heavier than anything Honolulu sees. Pick Bali for temples, food, and budget; pick Hawaii for beaches you can swim year-round and big-nature days.

Airport transfers, money, water, connectivity and which areas to stay in are covered once, on the Hawaii best-time guide.

Frequently asked questions

When is hurricane season in Hawaii?
June 1 to November 30, according to the National Weather Service office in Honolulu. Those months are also the driest of the year in Honolulu, at 13–22mm of rain a month from June to September, so the season is about storm risk, not rain.
How often do hurricanes hit Hawaii?
Rarely compared with the Caribbean. A near-normal season has 4 or 5 tropical cyclones across the central Pacific, which stretches from 140°W to the International Date Line. Storms that pass close without landfall still matter: the National Hurricane Center notes they can cause considerable damage from wind and surf, and Lane in 2018 set the state rainfall record without coming ashore.
Is it safe to visit Hawaii during hurricane season?
Most trips in the season see no storm at all, and storms are tracked for days before they arrive. If you travel June to November, book refundable rates, buy travel insurance when you book, and follow alerts from the National Weather Service in Honolulu. Flash flooding is the main risk when a storm passes close, so check for flood warnings before hiking.
What is the best time to visit Hawaii to avoid hurricanes?
December to May is outside the season. April and May are the pick: they are among the driest months in Honolulu, at 20mm and 21mm of rain, while November to March is wetter, at 47–60mm a month.
What is the worst month to visit Hawaii?
September is the worst single month on weather risk: it falls in the middle of the Central Pacific hurricane season and is hot and humid (31°C highs, 24°C nights). Most Septembers pass without a landfall, which is why it is also the cheapest month. For crowds and cost, the worst stretch is December 20 to January 5, when rates climb steeply.
What is the best month to visit Hawaii?
May. Days sit at 29°C with about 9 hours of sun, rainfall is low (21mm in Honolulu, on Oʻahu's dry side; windward coasts get more), the winter surf and spring-break crowds are gone, and hotel rates are near the year's lowest. April and October are close seconds.
Does Hawaii have a rainy season?
Yes — roughly November through March. It hits windward (north and east) coasts hardest: Hilo on the Big Island averages over 250mm in some winter months while Honolulu, on Oʻahu's dry side, peaks at 60mm in March. Leeward resort coasts such as Waikīkī, Kāʻanapali, Wailea, and Kona stay mostly dry even in winter.
What is the cheapest time to visit Hawaii?
September, followed by early October and May. Flights and hotel rates drop noticeably versus summer, and resorts are noticeably emptier. The trade-off in September is mid-season hurricane timing and the year's stickiest weather; October carries less storm risk for a similar price.
How many days do you need in Hawaii?
Plan 7 days for one island, 10–14 for two. Inter-island flights are short (25–50 minutes) but airport time adds up, so most first-timers do better with one or two islands done properly than three done quickly. Oʻahu plus Maui or the Big Island is the classic pairing.
What should I pack for Hawaii in the wet season?
A light rain jacket, reef-safe sunscreen (required by state law), and a warm layer for Haleakalā or Mauna Kea, where it can drop below 5°C at the summit even in summer. Winter visitors to windward coasts should expect showers most days; leeward visitors will barely use the jacket.

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Sources

Every claim on this page is backed by an authoritative source. Atlas Ranger synthesizes data from multiple references so you can see exactly where each fact came from.

  1. Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority — GoHawaiiUsed for: Official visitor information, festival dates, island guidance
  2. NOAA NCEI normals: Honolulu International Airport, 1991-2020Used for: Monthly temperature, rainfall and sunshine averages
  3. NOAA Central Pacific Hurricane CenterUsed for: Central Pacific hurricane season climatology and active-storm tracking
  4. NWS Honolulu: 2026 Central Pacific Hurricane Season OutlookUsed for: Season dates (June 1 to November 30) and the 4 or 5 tropical cyclones of a near-normal season
  5. NWS Honolulu: 2023 Central Pacific Hurricane Season SummaryUsed for: Winds from the gradient between high pressure and Hurricane Dora that contributed to the Lahaina wildfire, August 2023
  6. Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency: HistoryUsed for: Hurricane Iniki: category 4, direct landfall on Kauaʻi, September 11, 1992
  7. NHC / CPHC Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Lane (2018)Used for: No landfall; 58.00 inches of rain at Kahuna Falls, the state record for a tropical cyclone
  8. Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources — Ocean SafetyUsed for: Seasonal surf and rip-current guidance
  9. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Tropical Cyclone ClimatologyUsed for: Central Pacific basin (140°W to the Date Line), El Niño and late-season storms, damage from storms that do not make landfall