Big Island is more Temperate than Tropical? (Honolulu, Hilo: houses, live)

[OpenD]

I've been mulling over this since I tripped across the facts last week... it's almost as dramatic as finding out that that Bobby is still alive and it was all just a dream... but it seems that more of the total land area of the Big Island is classified by weather experts as being Temperate Climate than is classified as Tropical.

And especially, my beloved Volcano property, which I've always described as being Tropical Rainforest Wonderland, is in fact considered to be in the Temperate Zone, a significant downgrade, poetically speaking. This answers a lot of questions about various problems I have had with my gardening, but raises other questions about how to refer to the natural wonders of my amazing yard and close environs.

Here's the background...

I've long held to the widely espoused view that there are 13 climate zones in the world and that 11 of them can be found on the Big Island. It's been fun twitting the uninformed with the fact that one should avoid the frigid trip up to go snowboarding on Mauna Loa on the same day you go scuba diving in Kona because you could get the bends, like seriously, dude!

But then I came across a local blog which purported to straighten out the record... that there are only 4 of the 5 major climate zones, and 8 of the 13 climate subzones represented on Hawai'i... and asserted quite convincingly that the original claim of 11 was based on confusion about how to properly apply the Koppen climate classification system. Oh, there was no joy in Mudville.

But as I recovered, I began noticing something curious about the map which had been drawn from this realigned information... that the areas classified as being in the Temperate zones were larger in size than those in the Tropical zones! And that both Volcano and Waimea were smack in those Temperate zones.

Here's where you can find that map... The 8 (not 11, 12 or 13 ) climate zones on the Big Island of Hawaii

True, most of the population of the island lives in the Tropical climate, primarily in a narrow band around the coast plus lower Puna, and nobody at all lives in the permanently frozen Tundra atop Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. But much more of the island is Temperate than I would have guessed.

Surprisingly the Four Seasons Resort and 9 of the 10 most expensive houses in the entire state (according to Honolulu Magazine) are in the Arid and Semi-Arid zones north of Kailua-Kona. All that lush greenery you see is due to heavy irrigation.

So for the record, in case you don't follow the link, here are the 4 major climate zones, and 8 sub-zones (out of 13) that are found on the Big Island of Hawai'i:

A) Humid tropical climate
....1) Continuously wet (includes Hilo)
....2a) Winter-dry (includes Kailua-Kona)
....2b) Summer-dry (includes Pahala)
....3) Monsoon (section of Honokaa coast)
B) Arid and Semi-arid climate
....4) dry semi-arid (steppe) (partly coastal strip from south of Kailua north to about Holana Bay)
....5) dry arid (desert) (north of the Four Seasons)
C) Temperate climate (broad swath around most of the island mauka the Tropical zone)
....6) continuously wet (includes Volcano and Waimea)
... 7a) summer-dry warm (higher elevations, incl much of Saddle Rd and Bradshaw Military Base)
....7b) summer-dry cool (even higher)
D) Tundra climate
.... 8) Tundra - permanently frozen ground surrounding peaks of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

So, even though the Big Island is located in the Tropics, and its beaches are primarily Tropical, its overall climate is more Temperate than Tropical. How 'bout them mountain apples?

[Jungjohann]

Hopefully this tragic news won't adversely affect the weather in Volcano, and it will remain wet, cold, cloudy and depressing....

[hotzcatz]

Well foo on that fellow who downgraded our climate zones. He said he got that number because he changed the climate measurement system used to determine how many of climate zones there are. So we can just continue to use whatever system we were using before where we had more zones and ignore his downgrade.

It's kinda like those folks who measure waves and they decided to change the way they measure waves in Hawaii. Usta be Hawaiian waves were measured from the back where everywhere else on the planet they measured them from the front. So they changed how they measured Hawaii waves and all the three foot waves in Hawaii instantly became six foot waves just by using a different measurement scale. It didn't change the waves any, so whatever method someone uses to measure climate zones isn't gonna change the climate any.

I'll just continue to use the old system and stick with my 10, 11 or 12 climate zones that we had before. Foo on that fellow!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Well foo on that fellow who downgraded our climate zones. He said he got that number because he changed the climate measurement system used to determine how many of climate zones there are.

No, the measurement system didn't change. He just eliminated the double-dipping that had been done earlier by people mistakenly saying that an area was in one climate zone in summer, and in another in winter. They were misinterpreting the criteria. He just realigned the data with the way everybody else on the planet measures it.

[Rogerluli]

Considering that the coldest places on Big Island are only zone 9 by the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map it doesn't sound too serious...



USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map#

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Rogerluli

Considering that the coldest places on Big Island are only zone 9 by the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map it doesn't sound too serious...

It's not too serious, and neither am I.

Notice, however, that the color scale on that map runs out before it gets to the peaks of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, where the ground is permanently frozen (tundra).

Mostly what this realignment and mapping of the climate zones does for me is to help explain why certain things are and aren't grown in certain areas. Altitude is part of it... half of the entire island is above 2,000' altitude, and there are many tropical varieties which just won't prosper that high. Rainfall is part of it... very high in some areas, very low in others. And temperature range is definitely part of it. But seeing the combined effect projected as Temperate Zone vs Tropical finally clears up some mysteries for me.