Christine Hitt
Hawaii's winter months, from November to April, are typically rainier than summer, something both residents and travelers plan for, usually expecting partly cloudy days and scattered showers.
But March was anything but typical: two back-to-back kona low storms dumped more than 2 trillion gallons of water across the state and severely flooded parts of it. Now, Hawaii is bracing for a third storm this week.
While no one can predict what future winters will bring, this season has shown how extreme Hawaii's weather patterns can be and how important it is to build flexibility into travel plans.
In Hawaii, trade winds typically blow from northeast to southwest; when kona (leeward) winds prevail, they pull tropical moisture up from the south in the opposite direction. Kona lows themselves aren't unusual, but historic levels of rainfall in specific locations and the back-to-back nature of this year's storms are -- and travelers are taking notice.
In recent weeks, I've watched visitors discussing their travel plans in Facebook and Reddit posts, asking each other whether they should reschedule. The Hawaii Tourism Authority maintained through the first two storms that visitors do not need to cancel their plans.
What travelers are actually doing, however, is mixed. Some are canceling and shifting dates or choosing a different destination, while others are sticking with their plans and hoping for the best.
How current storms could affect future travel
For the travel industry, that kind of behavior could signal changes in tourism to come: less confidence in Hawaii's winter season, more visitors shifting to summer or other destinations entirely, and a growing need for flexibility when planning a trip to Hawaii.
These aren't isolated storms but consecutive events, which make conditions harder to predict in the future. Hawaii has always had variable weather, but these storms underscore a growing reality: volatility is increasing and there needs to be more flexibility when making travel plans.
This shift influences how travelers approach booking decisions, from timing trips to considering insurance or more flexible cancellation policies. It also reflects a broader expectation that even once-in-a-lifetime trips may require adjustments along the way if conditions change.