Record Breaking Weather in Seattle

You can imagine my delight to be living in Seattle when the hottest day on record EVER is recorded! That's right, Seattle sweltered yesterday, with temps up to 105 degrees in some local suburban areas. While I love the heat, its hard to enjoy it when you are not equipped to handle it. Seattle rarely gets above 90 degrees, and when it does its only for a day here or there. Fortunately, John purchased an air conditioner for our bedroom on the weekend so we are nice and cool, however the air conditioner is so loud it makes it hard to sleep! Oh well, you can't win them all. I rushed home yesterday to get our two cats out of the heat, only to find that they prefer it vs. the chilled bedroom. Squid was born in Hawaii, so maybe that's why!

Speaking of weather, my friend and colleague Linda mentioned yesterday that Hawaii is the only state in the US that has never reached 100 degrees. Go figure! The temperature in Hawaii is fairly consistent, and when I lived there, the high temp often hovered at the 90 degree mark, but never much higher. I wonder whether we may see this change as we experience the ongoing effects of global warming? Time will tell.

Hawaiian Weather - Sunny and 80

One of the best parts about living in Hawaii is the consistently gorgeous weather. It is so nice to wake up, open the blinds and look out to the sunshine, almost every day of the year. There are really only two seasons in Hawaii: summer and winter. The average daytime summer temperature 85º F. (29.4 C) while the average daytime winter temperature is 78º (25.6º C). Temperatures at night are approximately 10º F. lower. If you are a fan of the heat, it doesn't get much better than this. The picture above is a typical 5 day forecast report.

The wettest months in Hawaii are from November to March, but all this means is that it helps to cool down the temperature - by no means should you worry about the rain disrupting your vacation plans. Because of Hawaii’s trade winds, there is almost always a cooling breeze. Several times during the year the trade winds will stop completely and the wind will switch around to come out of the south or west, bringing stormy or hot sticky weather. Islanders sometimes call this Kona weather, because kona means leeward or South, and this points to the direction from which these weather systems arrive. But most of the time, the weather is so pleasant that you might forget to go indoors. I used to spend as much time as possible outdoors, as there is nothing quite like fresh air and the smell of the ocean in your backyard!

What is funny though is how your body becomes adjusted to the weather, no matter where you live. During one winter in Hawaii, I remember the temperature got down to 65 degrees, and I headed to work with a scarf, gloves and jacket on - for Hawaii that was cold! Now in Seattle, its starting to get down into the 30s at night, and I am still going outside without a jacket - crazy!

If you are planning a vacation and are wondering when the best time is to travel to Hawaii, I would give the following suggestion:

• If you like it REALLY hot - Late August/September
• Pleasant - November
• Mild - February

No matter when you go - you can be guaranteed to come home with a killer tan!

Lack of Blogging This Week

If anyone is reading my blog and wondering what happened to the regular daily posts, I have been out of action due to a virus/cold/upset stomach. Have had a terrible week - really feeling down. I think if I was able to head to the beach and get some sun things would be different. Ah yes, that is the beauty of living in Hawaii - sun surrounding you almost every day of the year.

Well I hope to be back on track next week - looks like I may have to head to the tanning salon in Seattle to recover!