Hawai‘i has four of the five major climate zones in the world and eight of the 13 sub-zones.

We take a closer look at the various areas of Hawai‘i Island that illustrate such climate diversity…

(Cover photo: One of many pu‘u, or hills, found on Hawai‘i Island. This one is at the elevation of 2,577 feet—part of the temperate climate—which is dry and warm in the summertime.)

A horse meanders in a field guarded by a stand of trees in Waimea.
  • Peering through the trees in Honoka‘a, situated on the edge of the humid, tropical climate
  • Mullein flowers at the 10,150-foot elevation in the Mauna Kea Forrest Reserve enjoy the temperate dry, cool summer climate
Mauna Kea at 8,175 feet above sea level
The polar tundra at the top of Mauna Kea, at the 13,796-foot elevation, looking east-northeast toward some snowcapped pu‘u.
The Canada-FranceHawai‘i (left) and Gemini North (right) telescopes sit in the polar tundra found at the top of Mauna Kea.
Image of The verdant surroundings
The verdant surroundings of the 422-foot Akaka Falls in Honomu, near Hilo
Clockwise, from top left: Keanalele, an old lava tube at Kiholo Bay; A finger of land separating Kiholo Bay indicates the remnants of a fishpond, which was commissioned by King Kamehameha II in 1820. It was almost completely filled in by an 1859 lava flow. The greenery beyond the shore is made up of kiawe trees nourished by underground water sources such as Keanalele; The crimson blooms of an ‘ohi‘a lehua tree in the Ka‘u desert, just south of Volcano, in the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park; A monsoon area, found on the Hamakua Coast, between Hakalau and Honomu, above Kolekole Beach Park.