THE CLIMATE OF HAWAII 



One of the important factors in the agriculture of any 

 country, is the climate. In this respect, Hawaii is very 

 >favorably situated, being favored with perhaps, as nearly 

 as may be, an ideal climate. The slight daily and sea- 

 sonal range of temperature is almost as striking in Ha- 

 waii as in any part of the tropics, while the maximum 

 temperature is by no means high. A temperature of 

 90° F. is very high for Hawaii. In Honolulu, for example, 

 the maximum temperature for the past fifteen years is 

 89°. The average annual temperature ranges in Hono- 

 lulu from 72.9° to 74° for different years. During the 

 same period, the lowest recorded temperature was 52" F., 

 and such low temperatures ordinarily persist only for a 

 few hours. The daily range of temperature is seldom 

 greater than 11° F. While the temperature records are 

 more complete for Honolulu than for other parts of the 

 Islands, there are, nevertheless, long continued records 

 at certain points on all the Islands; and these records 

 show essentially the same conditions as those which pre- 

 vail in Honolulu. It will be seen from these statements 

 that there are no sudden changes of temperature and it 

 should also be noted that there are only very slight and 

 gradual seasonal changes. The average daily tempera- 

 ture gradually becomes lower during the winter and rises 

 during the summer; but the variation is so slight that 

 there may be summer days at any season of the year. 



The climatic conditions for rapid growth of vegetation 

 are, therefore, about as favorable as could possibly be 

 found. Even the intensity of the sunlight, which is 

 characteristic of tropical countries, is here tempered by 

 the almost daily occurrence of light clouds which are 

 formed on the mountains in the center of each island and 

 are slowly drifted out over the leeward side. 



While the climatic conditions nearer sea level are ex- 

 ceedingly uniform, it is, nevertheless, possible to secure 

 a great variety of climate in the Territory by going to 

 different altitudes and on different sides of the island. 

 On account of the prevalence of gentle trade winds for 

 about 260 days of the year, the islands are naturally 

 divided into a windward and leeward side, the windward 

 side lying on the northeast. On the windward side, the 



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