Regenesis Kauaʻi
Your rainfall zone

Zones come from long-term average rainfall. Rain can change a lot within a mile or two and with elevation, so treat your zone as a starting point and watch your own site.

Kauaʻi towns and areas by rainfall zone

Zones on this site: wet is 80 or more inches of rain a year, moderate is 40–80, and dry is under 40. Ranges show typical mean annual rainfall within about 1 mile (1.5 km) of each census community’s center point, or within 0.6 mile (1 km) for smaller named areas, from the Rainfall Atlas of Hawaiʻi.

Approximate mean annual rainfall and zone for Kauaʻi communities, driest to wettest
CommunityZoneRainfallConfidence
KekahaDryabout 18–21 inHigh
MānāDryabout 18–21 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
WaimeaDryabout 20–22 inHigh
KaumakaniDryabout 21–24 inHigh
Pākalā VillageDryabout 20–24 inHigh
ʻEleʻeleDryabout 26–31 inHigh
HanapēpēDryabout 26–31 inHigh
NumilaDryabout 30–37 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
PoʻipūDry–moderateabout 36–45 inMedium Near the 40-inch line; check your spot
KeāliaModerateabout 40–43 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
KukuiʻulaDry–moderateabout 39–43 inMedium Near the 40-inch line; check your spot. Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
HanamāʻuluDry–moderateabout 38–48 inMedium Near the 40-inch line; check your spot
LīhuʻeModerateabout 40–48 inMedium Large area (7.5 sq mi); rainfall varies across it
WaipouliModerateabout 42–45 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
NāwiliwiliModerateabout 41–47 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
MoloaʻaModerateabout 43–49 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
WailuaModerateabout 44–53 inHigh
AnaholaModerateabout 43–57 inHigh
KōloaModerateabout 45–62 inHigh
PuhiModerateabout 52–59 inHigh
KapaʻaModerateabout 51–65 inMedium Large area (10.0 sq mi); rainfall varies across it
KalāheoModerateabout 51–67 inHigh
OlohenaModerateabout 57–65 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
KīlaueaModerateabout 56–69 inHigh
KōkeʻeModerateabout 57–69 inMedium Within 1 km (0.6 mi) of the NOAA Kokee rain gauge (about 4,200 ft); rain varies a lot across the uplands
KapahiModerateabout 59–71 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
LāwaʻiModerateabout 56–73 inHigh
KīpūModerateabout 62–68 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
KalihiwaiModerateabout 61–74 inHigh
ʻAniniModerateabout 65–72 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
Wailua HomesteadsModerateabout 65–80 inMedium Large area (7.3 sq mi); rainfall varies across it
PrincevilleModerateabout 70–78 inHigh
HanaleiModerate–wetabout 75–92 inMedium Near the 80-inch line; check your spot
ŌmaʻoModerate–wetabout 75–94 inMedium Near the 80-inch line; check your spot
Kīlauea uplandsModerate–wetabout 78–90 inMedium Near the 80-inch line; check your spot. Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi) of a NOAA rain-gauge site
Kapaʻa Homesteads (mauka)Wetabout 82–103 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
Hanalei HomesteadsWetabout 88–101 inHigh Smaller area: within 1 km (0.6 mi)
HāʻenaWetabout 86–109 inHigh
WainihaWetabout 103–121 inHigh

How to read this

  • Rainfall changes sharply over short distances and with elevation. On Kauaʻi the mapped yearly mean runs from under 20 inches on the west side to more than 390 inches in the mountains.
  • “Medium” confidence means the range crosses a zone line, or the community covers a large area. Check your exact spot on the Rainfall Atlas interactive map.
  • These are long-term averages (1978–2007). Single years can be much wetter or drier.

Sources: Rainfall values from the mean annual rainfall grid (inches) of the Rainfall Atlas of Hawaiʻi: Giambelluca, T.W., Q. Chen, A.G. Frazier, J.P. Price, Y.-L. Chen, P.-S. Chu, J.K. Eischeid, and D.M. Delparte, 2013: Online Rainfall Atlas of Hawaiʻi. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 94, 313–316, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00228.1. Community center points from the U.S. Census Bureau 2020 Gazetteer (census-designated places). Smaller named areas from the USGS Geographic Names Information System; “Kīlauea uplands” and “Kōkeʻe” use the locations of NOAA rain-gauge stations (Kilauea Field 17 and Kokee 1076) from the NOAA Regional Climate Centers’ ACIS station list. Range = 10th to 90th percentile of grid cells within 1.5 km (census communities) or 1 km (smaller areas).

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