Lahaina weather in December

Forum posters describe December daytime highs typically in the low 80sF, with water temperatures in the high 70sF - warm enough for swimming and snorkeling year-round. December does mark the start of Hawaii's rainy season, but posters are consistent this gets overstated: when rain falls it's usually brief, lasting only a few minutes, rather than a washed-out day. The leeward side (Kihei and Wailea) is named as the driest part of the island, since Kona storms that hit south Maui first often have little effect on West Maui. Posters repeatedly name the first two weeks of December as their favorite window - the quietest stretch of the year, with good weather and activities feeling almost private compared to the holiday crush that follows.

Regulars are specific Lahaina itself is often singled out as the one spot on the island that essentially doesn't rain, genuinely hotter than most other areas, air conditioning the practical answer for anyone finding the heat too much. Our row backs that hot, genuinely dry read, 31.1C reading as a scorching 33C, over 22.5C nights feeling 24C, with rain minimal at 9.4mm across 3.1 days and humidity at 68 percent. Regulars are consistent this falls within hurricane season, the actual risk remote most years though a storm passing nearby can bring a few days of real wind and rain even on an otherwise dry-leaning month. Overnight lows rarely drop below 70F regardless. The sea sits at a bath-warm 27.2C. The record: 11.2 hours of sun, a 26.8 kph wind and AQI 25.

June on Maui's west side is the month people describe as simply easy: 80s F, crowds not yet at their summer worst, and evenings cool enough for a light layer. On wind the forum and our row read differently and both are right - 27.9 kph here, while visitors staying on this coast report noticing no particular wind, because Lahaina sits in the island's lee. What arrives with a windless spell is vog, the volcanic haze that drifts up from the Big Island when the trades drop and the air turns hot and close. The other June fact is an absence: the humpbacks have gone, their season running mid-December to mid-April. The record: 30.4C days that feel like 32C, 21.7C nights, 2.6 precipitation days carrying 4mm, 12.5 hours of sun and a 26.5C sea.

Forum posters describe November daytime highs commonly around 85F, with November marking the start of Hawaii's rainy season - though Lahaina itself, being on the leeward (drier) side of West Maui, sees notably less rain than wetter windward spots like nearby Napili. Posters describe the total monthly rainfall for Lahaina as modest, with some visitors reporting lovely, less-humid conditions and smaller crowds than the busier months, while others hit a stretch of genuinely heavy rain - real year-to-year variation posters are candid about. Wind tends to pick up somewhat compared to earlier fall months, though posters still call it warm and pleasant overall, with beaches generally in good shape and fewer people around than peak season.

Lahaina's forum calls May a lovely time — neither too hot nor too cold, partly cloudy with scattered showers usually in the evening or early morning that leave plenty of beach time during the day. Regulars flag it as noticeably less crowded than summer, and note anyone heading up to Haleakalā for sunrise needs warm clothes regardless of how pleasant it is down on the coast.