Elevation and Climate changes on the Big Island (Hilo, Volcano: buy, live)

[Razzbar]

Originally Posted by Robin Rossi

When you say Damn, cold, how cold do you mean (below freezing, 50 degrees, 60 dgrees? I lived on Oaho for 4 years and remember puting the heater on in my car only once (and I was coming b ack from a night dive. However, that was at, virtually, sea leve.

You just bragging. Plenty people get heater in ka'a nowdays. We wen hemo da kine in my ka'a, so can use 'em for heat up da furo.

[Robin Rossi]

Originally Posted by Razzbar

You just bragging. Plenty people get heater in ka'a nowdays. We wen hemo da kine in my ka'a, so can use 'em for heat up da furo.

[Razzbar]

I reckon the temperature can get below 50 f. every so often in Mt.View. It never freezes, however.

Glenwood can get colder than a <whatever>. I remember one night riding with someone up to Volcano well after midnight, and for some reason (gas?) we had to stop at the Glenwood store, and then the truck wouldn't start. So we decided to just sleep in the truck until daybreak. But it was *painfully* cold, and wound up finding a way to get that truck up the hill to Volcano, where we had a fireplace waiting for us.

Mt. View is where you just barely start to notice that you're not in the humid sea level zone. But barely. Again, it's got a very good microclimate for that side of the island. It has little bit more sunshine than the surrounding areas. It's common to see a "pukalani" -- a clearing in the clouds over Mt. View.

It's a good place.

[hotzcatz]

Hey, I never thought to use a car radiator as a water heater. Some folks plug their house into their car to use a spare battery for house lights. If you had some sort of heat exchanger on the radiator somehow, you could get hot water and electricity from a car. Ha! Electric blankets work surprisingly well in an off grid situation, especially if you are using an inverter. They don't pull much power at all.

As far as cold and growing things go, if you are real particular about which varieties of apples and peaches you get, you can grow them even at some of the lower elevations. These folks will mail order varieties which will do well here even without winter chill: Home Page - Fruit Trees Online from Bay Laurel Nursery

And it's cold right now! Got my fuzzy slippers on and even a long sleeve shirt and it's still way cold. I'm guessing fifty eight or somewhere around there. Brrrr! We are at 1,100 or so on the windward side.

[daijoubu]

Originally Posted by Gyva

Just trying to get a feel for what elevation I want to buy in. I want to be able to grow many fruits and not freeze during the nights in the winter if my home had no heater. I'll keep diggin...

I'm not much of a farmer, but can warn you that going up to high elevation here on BI it gets quite cold at night. Especially, if its a clear night in some high places like Volcano, it can drop into the 40's even 30's during the winter! People visiting Hawaii are sometimes shocked to find this out. Volcano can be particularly miserable, because its usually a gloomy, foggy, soggy wet type of cold. Be forewarned!

If you stay below 1000' near the coasts, you won't be bothered by cold.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by daijoubu

If you stay below 1000' near the coasts, most people won't be bothered by cold often.

Fixed that for you.

Even in Hilo some people find it gets uncomfortably cold at night some of the time. Especially when it is misty and damp and the sun hasn't been seen for several days during the winter.

[daijoubu]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Fixed that for you.

Even in Hilo some people find it gets uncomfortably cold at night some of the time. Especially when it is misty and damp and the sun hasn't been seen for several days during the winter.

Thanks for the update! Well, its pretty unusual to get uncomfortably cool down near sea level anywhere in Hawaii. Of course, weird weather systems sometimes plow down here from the north, but they are rare events and last just a day or so in Jan or Feb. I even remember a "cool" night in Waikiki several winters ago with a blustery trade wind, and the tourists were complaining! But the next day was sunny and in the 70's, perfect weather.

We sure don't want to be giving the wrong impression of our mostly wonderful climate to our guests

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by daijoubu

We sure don't want to be giving the wrong impression of our mostly wonderful climate to our guests

No, I'm all about accuracy. People who move to the Big Island (in particular) are often surprised when they find themselves piling extra blankets on the beds, and buying space heaters and electric blankets. The reality of the Big Island encompassing 11 of the 13 climate zones of the world in a single island, that one can drive entirely around in less than a day, is not easily understood in all its depth. It's definitely not all white sandy beaches on the Island of Hawai'i. For one thing, more than half the land area of the island is over 2,000' altitude. That has a big impact on what grows where.

And visitors need to be well prepared for reality. Middle of the summer at the Kilauea Crater one can be miserable without a good jacket when the wind is blowing.

[HiloDiver]

I was totally unprepared for how cold Hilo area is. It's all a matter of perspective, of course but to us...it is COLD HERE. It gets down into the 60s at night and yes, fleece and/or electric blanket is how we sleep. I've barely been able to wear shorts since I arrived (in August so yes, I did see some summer). We are at about 700' Hilo side so not even all that high. Many people laugh at us and don't find it to be cold but we do. So how you react to it will depend on what you are accustomed to.

Volcano and Waimea are so incredibly cold to us that we dress for winter when we're passing through either area.

Thank goodness LLBean and Lands' End ship here...we spent a lot of money on fleece after our arrival and we're grateful to have it. I'm also glad that I ignored some members' poor advice to not ship our electric space heaters...we are VERY happy to have them and sent parcel post, it was cheap to get them here.

[daijoubu]

Originally Posted by HiloDiver

I was totally unprepared for how cold Hilo area is. It's all a matter of perspective, of course but to us...it is COLD HERE. It gets down into the 60s at night and yes, fleece and/or electric blanket is how we sleep. I've barely been able to wear shorts since I arrived (in August so yes, I did see some summer). We are at about 700' Hilo side so not even all that high. Many people laugh at us and don't find it to be cold but we do. So how you react to it will depend on what you are accustomed to.

Volcano and Waimea are so incredibly cold to us that we dress for winter when we're passing through either area.

60's is so cold? So what do you do if you get stuck in Chicago in winter Millions live there year-round. But I guess its all relative to what you're used to most of the time. BI is without a doubt the most extreme of all the islands, from tropical beaches to snow and arctic conditions on the Mt. summits. Not many places in the world, you can surf in shorts, drive 2 hours then go ski