Is Hawaiin weather similar to Portland? (live, title, summer)

[Kailasmom]

The last 'summer' we spent in Portland (July 1996) I swore I would never wear a COAT at night in July again (to be fair, watching fireworks up on a hill over the river). And yes, the all-too-brief summer of 8 weeks is lovely. But I would never remotely describe any weather in Hawaii to that of Portland. Lived there many years, live in San Diego now (for the next 2 months), and that's as cool, weather-wise, as I am willing to go. I just couldn't resist writing on this thread, my jaw literally dropped when I saw the title.

[derniss]

Originally Posted by Kailasmom

The last 'summer' we spent in Portland (July 1996) I swore I would never wear a COAT at night in July again (to be fair, watching fireworks up on a hill over the river). And yes, the all-too-brief summer of 8 weeks is lovely. But I would never remotely describe any weather in Hawaii to that of Portland. Lived there many years, live in San Diego now (for the next 2 months), and that's as cool, weather-wise, as I am willing to go. I just couldn't resist writing on this thread, my jaw literally dropped when I saw the title.

a coat in July? Dont scare me please..

[winkosmosis]

The leeward side of Maui is nice and dry. During the day it gets to upper 80s sometimes, so it's pretty hot if you don't have AC, but it's not humid. At night it usually drops to the low 70s or high 60s, although it can get muggy when the kona or trade winds aren't blowing. To me this is perfect... warm days, cool nights.

The windward side is wet and much more humid. Closer to the mountains it gets overcast and rainy pretty often.

[Kailasmom]

a coat in July? Dont scare me please..

I waitressed out in Seaside for many a summer - and I saw a Fourth of July parade with Miss Clatsop County wearing a fur over her gown. You know this story is from 'back in the day' because there is no way a Miss Oregon candidate would wear a fur coat now. Puffy fiberfill parka, maybe....

[winkosmosis]

I know a girl who lives in Portland and she posted a screenshot on Facebook of the weather forecast. She was shocked that there was going to be one sunny day later in the week. I don't know how people can live up in the PNW and not be depressed by the weather.

[HonuMan]

Originally Posted by derniss

a coat in July? Dont scare me please..

There's a saying here that summer starts on July 5 in Portland. I've been here since 1998, and that's pretty accurate. There have been several July 4th evenings that were cool enough for me to wear a windbreaker, and that had a bit of drizzle. But July 5th through early September are generally warm to hot during the day, and cool to warm at night, with plenty of sunshine. The Oregon coast is usually comparatively chilly, even in summer. During my first summer in Portland, we had a short heat wave in which it hit 104. My apartment had no air conditioning, so I escaped one day to Cannon Beach. It was great going over the Coast Range, and feeling the temperature drop from 104 to 65.

As for your original question, I've been up to Volcano Village on the Big Island several times. On my last trip, it was 75 and sunny, but on previous trips, it was quite chilly, and I had to wear a jacket. Wet-side Kamuela has also been chilly, windy, and cloudy/rainy most of the times I've been there on the drive between Hilo and Kona. It felt like Oregon in the springtime. My wife is originally from a cattle ranch at the 4,000-foot elevation on the Hamakua Coast, and she says that the climate there was similar to Portland's. They had frost in the winter, but the snow never came down that far.

[McFrostyJ]

Oregon has some beautiful days. When it is nice, it can be REALLY nice! However, for the most part in the Willamette Valley you get about 9 months of cold wet weather. In the summer (late July through early September) you can get some extremely hot days. On those days you do NOT want to be downtown. So, I suggest heading to the coast or up to the mountains. Two years ago I was at the 3 Days Of Aloha festival in Vancouver, Washington. It was around 100 degrees. While standing in line to get some lau lau, a good size Hawaiian guy said to me, "Hey Bruddah! You from here?" I answered yes. He said, "When da heck it gonna snow? We are meltin' here brah!" The nice thing about the Willamette Valley is that it doesn't get a lot of snow. Although, you can easily get to the snow when and if you want to. On Mt Hood near where I live, most years you can ski and snowboard all year round. For me though, snow is only nice on Christmas Day. Other than that, YUCK!

[Kelly4Sun]

Well Winkosmosis, thats why all us North-westerners want to move to Hawaii

[Razzbar]

Hawaii has all kinds of weather. Hilo gets around 100 inches of rain a year, while Portland has 30-40. Yet Hilo has far more sunshine than Portland. I've lived a few years in Portland, and can say that as far as sea level areas in Hawaii are concerned, no. Portland is different.

However, Maui and the Big Island have settled areas at higher elevations, and maybe the area from Glenwood to Volcano village on the Big Island are something like Portland. Lots of drizzle and mist, and cooler temperatures.

Olinda area on Maui is also higher, wetter and cooler. Ainako above Hilo is also wetter and cooler. I used to drive through Ainako several times a week, and it was always, always, always raining.

But Portland isn't always raining. The real difference is that on the mainland, the weather depends on location and time of year. Portland in the summer is nothing like Portland in the winter. In Hawaii, however, the weather is entirely dependent on location. There's a dry side and a wet side of every island, and a spectrum of rainfall going from one side to another. Going up in elevation, the weather cools off. Weather is pretty much the same all year round in Hawaii, except for the occasional passing weather system that brings more rain. There aren't the significant changes in seasonal weather like the mainland has.

[eureka1]

Hawaii is extremely humid most of the time. Some can take it, some can't.