What Are the Warmest Cities in Hawaii?

In this article I’m going to share with you my ranking of the warmest places in Hawaii.

I created my list by researching data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other climate data providers.

Below I’m listing the top 10 warmest places in Hawaii that have the highest average yearly temperatures. Later in the article I share a table with 37 most populous cities in Hawaii.

Top 10 Warmest Cities in Hawaii

Here are the top 10 warmest places in Hawaii ranked by their daily mean temperature. If you want to live in or visit Hawaiian islands and want the best weather possible, generally speaking Oahu is the best Hawaiian island for that. It has most sunshine and the highest temperatures, both during the summer and winter months.

For the top five cities I also give average winter and summer temperatures.

1. Honolulu – daily mean temperature of 78.05 °F

Honolulu is often the primary choice for Hawaii vacation and there’s a good reason for that. Oahu is the warmest Hawaiian island and Honolulu in particular offers the best weather. During the winter months, it gets daytime temperatures of 80-82 °F and pleasant nighttime temperatures of 67-69 °F. In the summer, days reach 87-89 °F and nights drop to 74-76 °F.

Because Honolulu has a semi-arid climate, you don’t have to worry about wet weather as it rains very little. Sunny weather is the norm there. The average rainfall is particularly low between April and September. Rain falls on average 7 days each month but it’s very little precipitation.

Winter temperatures: highs of 81-82 °F, lows of 67-69 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 87-89 °F, lows of 74-76 °F

2. Kailua-Kona – daily mean temperature of 77.95 °F

Kailua-Kona is the second largest settlement on the Big Island. It’s located about 30 miles south of the renowned Kohala Coast and one of the largest white sand beaches on the Big Island, Hapuna Beach. Its annual daily mean temperature is almost the same as in Honolulu. It differs by having daytime temperatures in the winter months higher by about one degree and having summers cooler by one degree.

Kailua-Kona is the only place on the largest Hawaiian island featured in this ranking. If you’re looking for great weather on Hawaii, this is your best choice.

Winter temperatures: highs of 81-82 °F, lows of 68-69 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 85-87 °F, lows of 74-75 °F

3. Kahului – daily mean temperature of 77.1 °F

The third warmest place in Hawaii is on the island of Maui. Kahului is located in northwestern Central Maui, right by West Maui. Kahului has the highest average high temperatures in Hawaii. In the winter it’s even one degree warmer during the day than Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.

One thing to note is that Kahului is one of the windiest cities in the US, with an average wind speed of 13.7 mph. If you want to visit Hawaii to practice wind sports, then that’s desirable. But if not, ask yourself if you can still enjoy sunny days on the beach with strong wind.

Winter temperatures: highs of 82-83 °F, lows of 64-66 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 88-90 °F, lows of 70-72 °F

4. Kalaeloa – daily mean temperature of 77 °F

Kalaeloa is located 22 miles west of Honolulu, close to Ewa Beach that places tenth in this ranking. What used to be a Naval Air Station Barbers Point is now a community where over 2,000 people live. The area enjoys a tropical savanna climate with a pronounced dry season during the summer, with about 20 fewer precipitation days than in Honolulu.

Winter temperatures: highs of 81-82 °F, lows of 65-67 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 87-89 °F, lows of 71-73 °F

5. Kailua – daily mean temperature of 76.95 °F

Kailua is a city of 40,000 people, located on the southeastern side of Oahu, close to some of the most beautiful beaches on the east coast. Kailua has summers with days that are cooler by about 3 degrees than in Honolulu. The major difference between the two cities, though, is that Kailua sees three times more rain than Honolulu (53.82 inches of rain compared to 16.41 inches of rain in Honolulu). If you want the highest amount of sunny days and the best weather, perhaps choose another part of the island.

Winter temperatures: highs of 80 °F, lows of 68-69 °F

Summer temperatures: highs of 85-86 °F, lows of 73-75 °F

6. Kaneohe – daily mean temperature of 76.6 °F

Kaneohe is located just 5 miles west of Kailua. Its gets much less rain than Kailua and features a tropical semi-arid climate, as opposed to the tropical savanna climate of Kailua. The highest temperature in the summer in Kaneohe is 5 degrees lower than in Honolulu which gives it an even more moderate climate year round.

7. Lahaina – daily mean temperature of 76.5 °F

Lahaina is the largest census-designated place in West Maui. Over 12,000 people call Lahaina home. The area is known for having some of the most expensive real estate in Hawaii. Like Honolulu, Lahaina has relatively dry weather with so little precipitation that its climate is considered tropical semi-arid. If you’re looking for the best weather in Maui, this is your best option if you don’t want such windy weather as in Kahului.

8. Lihue – daily mean temperature of 76.3 °F

Lihue is the only town on the island of Kauai in this ranking. It’s the second largest town on the island. If you want to visit Kauai, Lihue is your best bet when it comes to warm weather. Some consider Kauai to be the best Hawaiian island due to its spectacular nature. Note that there’s a reason why the island is called the Garden Island: it’s very green, which also means it gets more rain. Lihue has 193 days of rain, which is over twice as much as in Honolulu.

9. Hauʻula – daily mean temperature of 76.15 °F

Hauʻula is a town of 4,000 people, located on the northeast coast of Oahu. It’s 20 minutes by car from some of the most well-known northern beaches of the island such as Sunset Beach or other surf breaks on the North Shore. The area gets cooler weather than Honolulu, with winter temperatures during the day up to 2-3 degrees lower.

10. ʻEwa Beach – daily mean temperature of 75.9 °F

ʻEwa Beach is located on the leeward side of Oahu, just a few miles southeast of Kalaeloa. As the name implies, the town is located by the beach. The main difference between ʻEwa Beach and Honolulu is that ʻEwa Beach gets slightly cooler summer days and cooler nighttime temperatures throughout the year.

Video Summary of the Warmest Hawaii Cities

37 Biggest Cities in Hawaii Ranked by Daily Mean Temperature

I created the table below by researching data for the most populous municipalities in Hawaii. When I couldn’t find data for a given city, I moved on to another. While the list includes 37 cities, some of the bigger cities may be missing because there was no data for them. Please check the closest geographically city then.

Also check my article on the warmest cities in the US in every state.

Further Reading

You may be also interested in my article on the hottest cities in the US as well as my article on places like Hawaii in Europe.