100 degrees warmer in Hawaii

We have been feeling cold in Hawaii this winter.  It has been getting down to 73 degrees at night so we need a blanket to keep warm.  When we talked about winter being cooler this year, a snowbird friend remarked “It is over 100 degrees warmer here in Hawaii than my home town!”.   He was checking the temperature at his house in the Dakotas and thinking about his return trip home in a couple of weeks.

To us, 100 degrees seems like an unbelievable difference in temperatures, particularly since the 85 degree winter days in Hawaii do not seem all that warm to us anymore.  After seeing our look of doubt, he explained his calculation of adding 20 degrees below zero in his home town to 85 degrees in Hawaii today giving a 105 degree difference.  That helped us to understand why visitors staying near us run the air conditioners in their rentals all night while we are bundled in a blanket.

In most of Hawaii’s tropical climate zones, the temperature difference between winter and summer is only about 10 degrees.  The temperature difference between night and day, however, can be 20 to 30 degrees, much greater than temperature differences between seasons. 

We have grown very fond of Hawaii’s temperature consistency since we never have to disrupt our schedule or exercise routine because of cold weather.   Hawaii’s ideal  weather year-round makes life of a string of perfect summer days; it makes the days and months run together and the years seem to fly by.  

We have sympathy for those preparing to leave Hawaii and return to extremely cold temperatures in their home towns.  We are very thankful that we live where it is “over 100 degrees warmer”.