 BY CATHERINE E. TOTHPeople in Hawaii recognize the seasons. Summer is hot. Autumn is cool. Winter is cold. And spring is, well, wet. Four seasons, four relatively subtle changes in the weather. As far as the weather experts are concerned, Hawaii has two distinct seasons: the dry season (kau) from May through October and the wet season (ho'oilo) from November through April. But spring, which typically runs from March to May, does have its own personality. Waterfalls rush down the grooves along the Ko'olau Mountains. Plumeria trees are in full bloom. And hula'h'lau across the state get ready for the annual Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo. You see posters of the latest Cherry Blossom Festival contestants taped in store windows. Parents scramble to find sitters during the extended spring break. And every environmental group plans something — beach cleanups, workshops, treeplanting events for Earth Day in April. There are weddings, baby l'au, festivals, canoe races and heated discussions at the Legislature. It's like the Islands come alive in the warmer months following the holidays. But spring is still nothing like the season children have described to them in those Mainland-oriented textbooks we used in elementary school. I imagine leaves appearing on trees, lots of birds flying around and people starting to take their shirts off to play volleyball when the least bit of sun appears,said Allison Takeshita, 35, owner of Grumpy Girl Clothing. Takeshita has only experienced spring (if you could call it that, even there) in California. ••• |
When I think of spring in Hawaii, I think of lots of wind which I like and a little bit of rain. Mostly, though, spring alerts me to the fact that temperatures are rising again, and that the deathly summer heat is imminent. ~ Allison Takeshita, 35, There is a scientific distinction between spring and other seasons here. In the spring, the axis of the Earth is tilted toward the
sun, and daylight hours increase as summer draws nearer. In mostly snowless, tropical areas like Hawai'i, the change is subtle — but it exists. These months are more of a transition between the wet
and dry seasons, said KITV weather anchor Ben Gutierrez.
“There’s the battle between the cold fronts sweeping
through
the Islands and high pressure keeping the trades with us,”
said Gutierrez, who says he doesn’t mind the rain. “Depending on which one wants to win, either it’s windless People here are more sensitive to slight changes in the
temperature, he added. A variation of five degrees can mean Other changes mark the season. Just ask anyone who surfs. Spring means the monster waves on the North Shore start to slow, and swells begin to pick up off Waikïkï. The days are longer, and dawn patrollers can spend an extra 20 minutes out in the surf before heading to work. “In Hawai'i, we tell the seasons by the surf,” said beach expert and retired deputy fire chief John Clark, who grew up surfing every spot between Black Point and Diamond Head. ••• |
and by what shore it’s breaking on. It’s that simple.”
~ John Clark,61, retired deputy fire chief and beach expert
The 61-year-old regular at Diamond Head gets excited when the south swells start hitting his favorite breaks.
“Another plus is that we still get some good-sized waves on the North Shore, sometimes as late as April and May,” he said. “When we have good surf on both shores, there’s plenty of waves for everybody, so it’s a win-win time of the
year.”
And don’t forget, Clark quickly added, that it’s also mango season: “When you get out of the water from a full-on, adrenaline-rush surf session, what’s better than eating a cold, half-ripe Hayden mango over the sink? Spring is the best.”
Rona Bennett, co-designer of the wildly popular Fighting Eel clothing line, considers spring her rev-up to summer — her favorite season. She notices the days getting longer, the waves getting better, and the rain starting to back off.
Then she starts thinking about shorter dresses, brighter colors and bolder prints. (She’s a designer, after all.) And her line — with its thin material, flattering fits and beach feel — is all about sunshine.
“Spring gets me in the mood for summer,” said Bennett, 33, who admits to a nostalgic connection to the lazy days of summer. “So once we’re (designing for) spring, I feel like we’re on the right track.”
It seems that a lot of people who live in Hawai'i view spring that way: as a stopping point before those humid months, a sign in the road that reads, “Next stop: Summer.”
It’s not an event like it is on the Mainland, where people wait
for weeks to feel the sun.
Cynthia Derosier, a 42-year-old freelance art director living in Kailua, went to college in New York City. She never understood “spring fever” until she spent a winter on the East Coast.
