Temperatures are expected to reach the mid to upper 80s with plentiful sun all weekend in Hilo.
Temperatures are expected to reach the mid to upper 80s with plentiful sun all weekend in Hilo.
“I wish it’d stay like this all year,” said Jon Sarapion of Oahu, who kicked back just feet from the ocean enjoying a lunch break of sushi Friday.
Doug Ho‘omanawanui of Pahoa told Sarapion that “Hilo is a rainy town, man.”
“This isn’t normal? Really?” Sarapion said incredulously.
Ho‘omanawanui already thought ahead.
“We’re planning on coming out to the beach this weekend, probably having a barbecue on Sunday,” he said.
Henny Ahlo of Hilo said he doesn’t care if it rains or shines. He’ll be outside, in shorts, regardless.
“We like it all year,” he said.
When you live in Hilo, he said, there are two things you must remember to take along: your lunch box and a raincoat.
“But if you forget anything, don’t forget your raincoat,” he said.
“When it rains, people gather together. They huddle,” said Lance Benevides, also of Hilo, who was talking story with Ahlo.
The weather forecast, he said, is “good timing this weekend. It’s Kamehameha Day (on Sunday). It’s the start of summer. It’s a good way to start out.”
The National Weather Service predicts high temperatures in the 80s with lows dipping into the upper 60s in Hilo on Saturday and Sunday, with highs in the mid-80s through Thursday.
“Summer looks like normal or above normal chance of rain for the first half of the dry season, mainly for the windward side,” said NWS meteorologist John Bravender.
As for rain, “May was near normal, at least at the Hilo airport,” he said.
The Hilo International Airport gauge recorded 7.67 inches of rain in May, he said, noting normal would be 8.12 inches.
Bravender said sections of Hawaii County might continue to experience drought, and there might even be “development of new areas” of drought on the leeward side.
According to U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 75,000 people on the Big Island currently are in a region of moderate drought. When “abnormally dry” areas get counted, about two-thirds of the island is affected.
Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.