Maui

Microclimates

Maui has examples of all microclimates, each typical to specific locations.

• Windward lowlands – Below 2,000 ft (610 m) on north-to-northeast sides. Roughly perpendicular to the trade winds. Moderately rainy; frequent trade wind-induced showers. Skies are often cloudy to partly cloudy. Air temperatures are relatively more uniform (and mild).
• Leeward lowlands – Daytime temperatures are higher and nighttime temperatures are lower than in windward locations. Dry weather is prevalent, except for sporadic showers that drift over the mountains to windward and during short-duration storms.
• Interior lowlands – Intermediate conditions, often sharing characteristics of other lowland sub-regions. Occasional intense afternoon showers from clouds that form due to local daytime heating.
• Leeward side high-altitude mountain slopes with high rainfall – Extensive cloud cover and rainfall all year long. Mild temperatures are prevalent, but humidity is higher than in any other sub-region.
• Leeward side lower mountain slopes – Rainfall is higher than on leeward lowlands but much less than at similar altitudes on the windward side; however, maximum rainfall usually occurs leeward of the crests of lower mountains. Temperatures are higher than on the rainy slopes of the windward sides of mountains; cloud cover is almost as extensive.
• High mountains – Above about 5,000 ft (1,500 m) on Haleakalā, rainfall decreases rapidly with elevation. Relative humidity may be ten percent or less. The state's lowest temperatures are experienced in this region: air temperatures below freezing are common.

These microclimates help to define the major regions: Central Maui; leeward South Maui and West Maui; windward North Shore and East Maui; and Upcountry.^[15]

• Central Maui consists primarily of Kahului and Wailuku, and occupies the flat isthmus between the West Maui Mountains and Haleakalā. Kahului is the center of the island and tends to keep steady, high temperatures throughout the year. The Kahului microclimate can be muggy, but usually feels relatively dry and is often breezy. The Wailuku area is closer to the West Maui Mountain range. There, rainfall is greater throughout the year and humidity is higher.
• South Maui (Kihei, Wailea, and Makena) and West Maui (Lahaina, Kaanapali, and Kapalua) are both on the leeward side. These areas are typically drier, with higher daytime temperatures (up to 92 °F (33 °C)), and the least amount of rainfall. (An exception is the high-altitude, unpopulated West Maui summit, which boasts up to 400 in (10,000 mm) of rainfall per year on its north and east side.)

• The North Shore (Paia and Haiku) and East Maui (Keanae, Hana, and Kipahulu) are both on the windward side. Facing the prevailing, northeast trade winds, these areas have heavier rainfall levels, which increase considerably at higher elevations.
• Upcountry Maui is the name for the sloping area on the western face of Haleakalā, including the towns of Makawao, Pukalani, and Kula.^[16][17][18] This area ranges from 1,500 ft (460 m) to 4,500 ft (1,400 m), and the climate tends toward mild heat (between 70 °F (21 °C) and 80 °F (27 °C)) during the day and cool evenings. The higher the elevation, the cooler the evenings: during Maui's winter, Upper Kula can be as cold as 40 °F (4 °C) in the early morning hours and the Haleakalā summit can dip below freezing and become covered in snow.

Rainfall

Showers are common; while some of these are heavy, the majority are light and brief. Thunder and lightning are rare, even during intense storms. Throughout the lowlands, summer trade winds produce a drier season. Annual rainfall averages 17–20 inches (430–510 mm) in leeward coastal areas, such as the shoreline from Maalaea Bay to Kaupo. At the other extreme, the average exceeds 300 in (7,600 mm) along the lower windward slopes of Haleakalā, particularly along Hāna Highway. Big Bog, a spot on the edge of Haleakalā National Park overlooking Hana at about 5,400 ft (1,600 m) elevation had an estimated mean annual rainfall of 404 in (10,300 mm) over the 30-year period of 1978 to 2007.^[20] If the islands of Hawaii did not exist, the average annual rainfall on the same patch of water would be about 25 in (640 mm).^{[citation needed]} Instead, the mountainous topography induces an average of about 70 in (1,800 mm).

In the lowlands, rainfall is most likely to occur during night or morning hours, and least likely in mid-afternoon. The most pronounced daily variations in rainfall occur during the summer because summer rainfall generally consists of night-time trade wind showers. Winter rainfall in the lowlands is the result of storm activity, which is as likely to occur in the daytime as at night. Rainfall variability is far greater during the winter when occasional storms contribute appreciably to rainfall totals. Such wide swings in rainfall produce occasional droughts, sometimes causing economic losses. These occur when winter rains fail to produce sufficient significant rain, impacting normally dry areas outside the trade winds that depend on them the most. The winter of 2011–2012 produced extreme drought on the leeward sides Maui, and some other islands.

Natural history

Maui is home to a large rainforest on the northeastern flanks of Haleakalā, which serves as the drainage basin for that side.

Maui is home to many coral reefs. However, many have been damaged by pollution, run-off, and tourism, although sea turtles, dolphins, and Hawaii's celebrated tropical fish remain abundant. Leeward Maui once boasted a dry cloud forest, but this was destroyed by human activities over the last three hundred years.^[22]

Wildlife

Maui is the leading whale-watching center in the Hawaiian Islands for the humpback whales who winter in Maui County's sheltered ʻAuʻau Channel. These mammals migrate approximately 3,500 mi (5,600 km) from Alaskan waters each autumn and spend November–April mating and birthing in the warm waters. They are typically sighted in pods: small groups of several adults, or groups of a mother, her calf, and a few suitors. Humpbacks are an endangered species protected by U.S. federal and Hawaiʻi state law. An estimated 21,000-26,000 humpbacks live in North Pacific waters.^[23] Although they face many dangers, due to pollution, commercial vessels, and military sonar testing, their numbers have increased rapidly in recent years, estimated at 7% growth per year.^[24]

Birdlife lacks the concentration of endemic species found in some other Hawaiian islands. As recently as 200,000 years ago Maui was part of Maui Nui, thus reducing the odds that birds or other species would be endemic to any single one of these. Although Molokaʻi had several endemic bird species, in modern times Maui Nui's other islands host little endemic birdlife. During and after the Maui Nui period, Maui hosted a species of moa-nalo (also found on Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe), a species of harrier (the wood harrier, shared with Molokaʻi), an undescribed sea eagle (Maui only), and three species of ground-dwelling flightless ibis (Apteribis sp.), plus other species. Today, Maui's most notable surviving endemic birds are probably the 'Akohekohe (Palmeria dolei) and the Maui parrotbill (Pseudonestor xanthophrys), also known as Kiwikiu, both of which are critically endangered and only found in an alpine forest on the windward slopes of Haleakalā.

Conservation efforts have examined how to mitigate female parrotbill mortality since that is s a key driving factor driving population decline. The parrotbill lacks resistance to mosquito-born diseases, particularly avian malaria, so only forests above 1500 meters of elevation provide refuge. The habitat was undergoing restoration in east Maui as of 2018.^[25] As Maui's human population grew, previously undeveloped areas that provided a refuge decreased in size. More than 250 species of local flora are federally listed as endangered or threatened.^[26] Birds found on other islands as well as Maui include the I'iwi (Drepanis coccinea], 'Apapane (Himatione sanguinea), Hawai'i 'Amakihi (Chlorodrepanis virens), as Maui 'Alauahio (Paroreomyza montana) well as the Nene (Branta sandvicensis, Hawaii's state bird), Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai), Hawaiian stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni).

In 2024, Haleakalā National Park began to employ the incompatible insect technique to reduce the park's mosquito population.^[27]

Maui is also home to the Hawaiian hoary bat, Hawaii's only native terrestrial mammal. Marine mammals notably include spinner, bottlenose, and spotted dolphins.^[28]

Europe

On November 26, 1778, explorer James Cook became the first European to see Maui. Cook never set foot on the island, because he was unable to find a suitable landing. The first European to come ashore was French admiral Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, who landed on the shores of what became La Perouse Bay on May 29, 1786. More Europeans followed: traders, whalers, loggers (e.g., of sandalwood) and missionaries. The latter began to arrive from New England in 1823, settling in Lahaina, at that time Hawaii's capitol. They clothed the natives, banned hula, and greatly altered the culture. The missionaries taught reading and writing, devised the Hawaiian alphabet, operated a printing press in Lahaina, and began recording the islands' history, which had been transmitted only orally.^[29] The missionaries both altered and preserved the native culture. The religious work altered the culture while the literacy efforts preserved history and language. Missionaries started the first school in Lahaina, Lahainaluna Mission School, which opened in 1831 and still exists.

Whaling

At the height of the whaling era (1843–1860), Lahaina was a major center. In one season over 400 ships visited with up to 100 anchored at one time in Lāhainā Roads. Ships tended to stay for weeks rather than days, fostering extended drinking and the rise of prostitution, against which the missionaries battled. Whaling declined steeply at the end of the 19th century as petroleum replaced whale oil.

Along with the rest of Hawaii, Maui was part of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the Republic of Hawaii, Hawaiian territory, and the state of Hawaii.

In 1937, Vibora Luviminda trade union conducted the final ethnic strike action in the Hawaiian Islands against four Maui sugarcane plantations, demanding higher wages and the dismissal of five foremen. Manuel Fagel and nine other strike leaders were arrested, and charged with kidnapping a worker. Fagel spent four months in jail while the strike continued. Eventually, Vibora Luviminda made its point and the workers won a 15% increase in wages after 85 days on strike, but no written contract was signed.

World War II

Maui was involved in the Pacific Theater of World War II as a staging center, training base, and rest and relaxation site. At the peak in 1943–1944, more than 100,000 soldiers were based there. The main base of the 4th Marine Division was in Haiku. Beaches were used to practice landings and train in marine demolition and sabotage.

2023 wildfires

This section is an excerpt from 2023 Hawaii wildfires.[edit]

In early August 2023, a series of wildfires broke out in the U.S. state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui. The wind-driven fires prompted evacuations and caused widespread damage, killing at least 102 people and leaving two people missing in the town of Lahaina on Maui's northwest coast. The proliferation of the wildfires was attributed to dry, gusty conditions created by a strong high-pressure area north of Hawaii and Hurricane Dora to the south.^[30]

Water supply

The new millennium brought droughts, increasing pressure on the ʻĪao aquifer, with withdrawals rising above 18 million U.S. gallons (68,000 m³) per day. Recent estimates indicate that Maui has a potential supply of potable water around 476 million U.S. gallons (1,800,000 m³) per day, ^{[citation needed]} virtually all of which drains into the ocean.

Water for agriculture comes mostly from East Maui streams, routed through a network of tunnels and ditches dug by Chinese laborers in the 19th century.

In 2006, Paia petitioned the county to avoid mixing in treated water from wells known to be contaminated with 1,2-dibromoethane and 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane from former pineapple cultivation.^[34] Agriculture companies were released from liability for these chemicals.^[35] In 2009, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and others successfully argued in court that sugar companies should reduce the amount of water they take from four streams.^[36]

Agriculture

Maui's primary agriculture products are corn and other seeds, fruits, cattle, wine, and vegetables.^[39] Specific products include coffee, macadamia nuts, papaya, flowers and fresh pineapple. In 1974, Emil Tedeschi of the Napa Valley winegrower family of Calistoga, California, established the first Hawaiian commercial winery, the Tedeschi Winery (later Maui Wine) at Ulupalakua Ranch, initially focused on pineapple wine.^[40]

Historically, Maui's primary products were sugar and pineapple. Maui Land & Pineapple Company^[41] and Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company^[42] (HC&S, a subsidiary of Alexander and Baldwin Company) dominated agricultural activity. In 2016, sugar production ended.^[43] Haliimaile Pineapple Co. grows pineapple on former Maui Land & Pineapple Co. land.^[44]

In November 2014, a Maui County referendum enacted a moratorium on genetically engineered crops.^[45] Shortly thereafter Monsanto and other agribusinesses obtained a court injunction suspending the moratorium.^[46]

In 2018, Canadian pension fund Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased A&B's Maui farmlands (41,000 acres) and contracted with Mahi Pono, a subsidiary of Trinitas Partners to return these fallow lands to agriculture. Mahi Pono also has a controlling interest in Maui Cattle Company.^[47][48]

Information technology

Most technology organizations that are located on the island occupy the Maui Research & Technology Park^[49] which is located in Kihei. This includes the Maui Research and Technology Center^[50] and the Pacific Disaster Center. It is a program of the High Technology Development Corporation,^[51][52] an agency of the State of Hawaii, whose focus is to facilitate the growth of Hawaii's commercial high-technology sector.^[53]

Astrophysics

Maui is an important center for advanced astronomical research. The Haleakalā Observatory^[54] was Hawaii's first astronomical research and development facility, operating at the Maui Space Surveillance Site (MSSS) electro-optical facility. "At the 10,023-foot summit of the long-dormant volcano Haleakalā, operational satellite tracking facilities are co-located with a research and development facility providing data acquisition and communication support. The high elevation, dry climate, and freedom from light pollution offer virtually year-round observation of satellites, missiles, man-made orbital debris, and astronomical objects."^[55]

Snorkeling/diving

Snorkeling and diving are popular activities on Maui, with over 30 beaches and bays and at Molokini. Maui's trade winds tend to come from the northeast, making the most popular places to snorkel on the sheltered south and west shores. Maui's ocean water is especially clear due in part to its isolation in the Central Pacific.

Windsurfing

Maui is a well-known destination for windsurfing. Kanaha Beach Park is a very well-known windsurfing spot and may have stand-up paddle boarders or surfers if there are waves and no wind. Windsurfing has evolved on Maui since the early 1980s when it was recognized as an ideal location to test equipment and publicize the sport.

Surfing

Surfing is one of Hawaii's most popular sports. Ho'okipa Beach Park is one of Maui's most famous surfing and windsurfing spots. Other frequently surfed areas include Slaughterhouse Beach, Honolua Bay, Pe'ahi (Jaws), and Fleming Beach. The north side absorbs the most swell during the winter season and the south and west in the summertime. Due to island blocking, summer south swells tend to be weak and rare. Standup paddleboarding is popular across Maui.

Kitesurfing

Kitesurfing is popular, particularly at Kanaha Beach Park.

Wing foiling

Wing foiling is the newest way to ride the wind, and is particularly practiced at Kahului Harbor.

Airports

Three airports provide air service to Maui:

• Hana Airport provides regional service to eastern Maui.
• Kahului Airport in central Maui is the primary commercial airport.
• Kapalua Airport provides regional service to western Maui.