Starting July 1, the Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal is offering free monthly climate summaries that deliver neighborhood and coastline specific updates straight to subscribers’ inboxes. The Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal tool turns complex climate metrics into clear, localized information on rainfall, temperature, and drought conditions tailored for communities across the islands.
The new monthly climate summary tool from the University of Hawaiʻi translates scientific data into plain-language updates designed for a wide range of users, including ranchers watching for drought, water managers tracking watershed health, teachers seeking classroom-ready data, and residents who want to follow conditions in a favorite valley.
According to portal director Ryan Longman, not everyone knows their area’s typical rainfall, but context helps. He said comparisons such as “50% below normal” or noting the “third driest month in the last century” make the data easy to grasp.
Longman also serves as director of the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center University Consortium at the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program.
How the Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal tool works
Subscribers can customize their monthly summaries using traditional Hawaiian geographic boundaries, including moku and ahupuaʻa, as well as standard climate divisions and watershed boundaries. The options reflect the project’s goal of grounding climate information in Hawaiʻi’s cultural and ecological context.
To sign up, community members can visit the climate summary page, pick a location on an interactive map, and enter an email address. Users may subscribe to multiple locations and will receive localized overviews each month, plus a link to an online dashboard for deeper dives into current and historical climate trends.
Lead developer and climate data analyst Cherryle Heu said the team wanted people to connect with data from the places that matter most to them. When a user selects a point on the map, the figures update for that exact spot, offering local insights that a single statewide average cannot capture.
Funding and partners behind Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal
Development began with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Integrated Drought Information System, which funded the project until December 2025, when the grant was canceled. “We were too far along to stop,” Longman said.
Additional backing from the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Commission on Water Resource Management enabled the team to complete the tool. Outreach was supported by a grant from the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center University Consortium, and the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Change Hawaiʻi project provided the cyberinfrastructure foundation.
The team includes grant-supported researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program and the Water Resources Research Center. The Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange Team also led the effort, working with collaborators statewide who helped shape the final product.
The Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal tool turns complex climate metrics into clear, localized information on rainfall, temperature, and drought conditions tailored for communities across the islands.
Outreach was supported by a grant from the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center University Consortium, and the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Change Hawaiʻi project provided the cyberinfrastructure foundation.
The Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange Team also led the effort, working with collaborators statewide who helped shape the final product.
Big Island rainfall June 2026: Windward deluge, leeward lags
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Commission on Water Resource Management
