Hawaii Finally Looks Like A Postcard Again. Here’s The Catch.

For much of the past year, Hawaii did not look like the postcard visitors expect. It was not only seasonally dry but also visibly and persistently brown due to drought. Hillsides that usually are green well into fall stayed muted and brown. Trails were dusty, and waterfalls slowed to a trickle if that. Visitors planned around that drier version of Hawaii, and for months on end, it mostly never changed.

That pattern has now changed, as rain has returned across parts of the state that often don’t get any, and it has begun to reshape conditions on the ground. What visitors are seeing today reflects a bigger seasonal transition to green.

Reader Anita just commented about the rain too: “What Did destroy some of the fun was a full week of solid rain…every.single.day. of our vacation. I should have done my research on the rainy season in Honolulu. But it made me realize how absolutely wonderful of a place Hawaii actually is – rain, or especially, shine.”

Over the past weeks, steady rainfall reached multiple islands, including Kauai, where, for example, the Beat of Hawaii’s office rain gauge recorded inch after inch of rain. Even visiting normally dry Kona this week, we experienced rain clouds appearing. We saw mostly dry conditions only on Maui, including on the road to Hana, although some rain was looking promising there too. The precipitation isn’t just greening up Hawaii’s landscape, but is changing how Hawaii feels, how it works, and in some cases, how visitors’ trips play out. Visitors arriving over the past few weeks are encountering a different Hawaii than the one they would have seen earlier this year.

Why this shift in weather is occurring now.

According to NOAA, Hawaii has now entered a far wetter seasonal pattern that’s expected to persist through spring. It’s being influenced by ongoing La Nina patterns that favor more frequent rain-producing systems across the islands, and we’ve experienced that same situation on Kauai, Oahu, and the Big Island, even in just the past week. This follows one of the brownest stretches many of us residents can remember in decades, particularly on normally more lush Kauai and in leeward areas elsewhere in the state.

That long dry phase served to amplify how dramatic it feels once rain returns to Hawaii. NOAA’s outlook points to increased rainfall probabilities across the islands through at least March, rather than any particular storm cycles or isolated weather events. It’s indicative of a broader seasonal shift that will shape what we and Hawaii visitors experience over the coming months, whether they planned for it or not.

Hawaii’s current green-up is dramatic.

The visual shift has been immediate and unmistakable. Hills that looked endlessly parched just weeks ago are greening rapidly. Valleys are again more lush, streams are coming back to life, and waterfalls that all but disappeared based on our own late summer photos are suddenly back in force.

On Kauai, the difference is noticeable around places visitors frequent and know well. Trails like Kalalau, which were dry and mud-free earlier in the season, are changing quickly as rain sets in. Wailua Falls also looks very different after runoff, even when the falls themselves are more impressive. For visitors relying on recent AllTrails reviews or dry-season expectations, the change is welcome and abrupt.

Brown water advisories have reentered the picture.

Along with the green comes water runoff to the ocean. After such prolonged dry periods, rain is washing sediment along with bacteria and other contaminants into Pacific waters. Brown water advisories have been returning, especially near stream mouths and along coasts where they can linger longer than visitors expect.

For beach-focused Hawaii trips, this can mean sometimes driving farther and switching beaches, or waiting for water clarity to return. That is not entirely a failure of Hawaii’s beaches, and it is how wet seasons work here. That may be something many visitors didn’t factor in when booking during what had become ordinary during such an extended dry period.

The trade-off for visitors worth debating.

This is where some opinions will differ. First, dry Hawaii and brown hillsides are easier to navigate. Trails are faster and simpler, water stays clearer for longer, and, in some ways, travel days feel more predictable than they are now. For repeat visitors who value consistent beach and trail access, that version of Hawaii can still be preferable.

Green, albeit sometimes muddy Hawaii almost immediately looked better. While visitor photography improves, the iconic waterfalls return, and the islands look and feel alive again. For some visitors, especially first-time ones, the visual benefits outweigh the inconvenience of wet weather. Did we mention we’ve needed rain jackets in the most unlikely places, even normally dry Kona. No matter which version you prefer, do come with flexibility for one and finding yourself in the other.

Why this weather shift matters now.

If NOAA’s forward predictions hold, we anticipate the green Hawaii to extend to the spring or summer. That means the brown Hawaii many visitors experienced in 2025 may be gone for the foreseeable future, replaced by a version that feels more lush but is also less predictable for travel.

This isn’t anything unusual, albeit seemingly swinging more from one direction to the other than we are used to. Expectations residents and visitors set during this unusually long dry spell are now colliding directly with this wetter reality. After one of the brownest periods we can ever remember, Hawaii has just started changing color again, and visitors are discovering that in real time, sometimes after planning for something different.

If you had to choose, would you rather visit Hawaii when it is brown and dry or green and muddy, and has this recent shift helped or hurt your travels?