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I think part of the problem is the difference in how we perceive inches of rain vs minutes of rain. I keep a rain gauge which I empty once a week, it isn't weather service quality, but it is consistent for the site. It has been running about 2.5 inches a week all summer, but hit 4 inches in two days early this week. My usual average is 3-4 inches a week, but my subjective perception is we have had a lot of rain over the last two months. I think we are above average on minutes of rain, but below on inches, so we feel like it is raining more than usual, but the rain levels are actually not that high.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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I posted the climate data because it does show that averaged over the past 50 years, summer months have about 1-3 "clear days", 25-28 days with at least some rain, and over half of the days will be cloudy, about a third will be partly cloudy.... in winter there are a few more clear days
But most any time we have a week or so of very overcast weather, it seem does seem overly depressing.... We have lived here only 7 years, and I have noticed that these long grey spells can happen most anytime of the year... last year it was in late Nov - Dec, some years it is March....These are seem to be drivem by weather fronts, not an overall seasonal weather trend...
As some have said, it is best to have a variety activities that make the grey days more fun.... and gardens love it! Our lilikoi are growing like crazy - over grew the gate in less than 3 days so I had to whack it back just to get to the compost machine.... Our new grass went from barely any growth for a month to crazy growth in the last 2 weeks.... And this is a good time for the citrus fruits to get water... so that is good...
and at least we have had some sun today...
Added: One other good thing happened today... The Hilo radar is back on line...so at least you can again see what is coming!
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Carey, I second the appreciation for the radar being back. I was getting VERY frustrated without my frequent radar fixes. We have only been here 10 months, but my wife is still not happy about the rainy weather. It was really miserable for her (and me) late last year. The only good thing is that it saves me a lot of time not having to water all the plants in pots waiting for me to get planting areas cleared.
The giant lilikoi you gave us are just starting to flower. Thanks.
Allen
Finally in HPP
Allen
Finally in HPP
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If I've got this right, we're just now out of a couple of La Nina years (the length of which was unusual) and might be transiting to El Nino, but I haven't checked that last bit.
Right now I think this is a typical summer on the windward side of the Big Island - or was. It's just that there have been some unusual world-wide weather patterns over the last few years which have affected everyone. Back in Blighty they had the worst drought ever earlier this year and now one of the wettest summers ever. Whatever the cause, I don't think you can take just a couple of years and call them typical, at least not nowadays. So if you moved here for the weather based on just that short timescale I'm sure you'll not get what you expected or what you experienced before.
The weather right now is what I remember for a few years after first moving here. Lots of clouds, a bit of rain, some spectacular sunny days which made all your problems go away and then back to a lot of cloud and rain again. It's just the last few years that have been a little unusual but right now this is what it used to be like - but it's so subjective.
And there's little point complaining because there's not a thing we can do about it, at least in the short term. For now, Kona has lots of sun and it's worth considering a day trip there if you need a dose of vitamin D.
Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/
Mary, You have made a big mistake IMO.
Tom .. Spot on as usual !
aloha,
pog
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mary: where is "here" for you? There's huge differences among Hilo, Keaau, HPP, lower Puna, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Forest, etc. As Carol and Carey alluded to, in general during the summer when trade winds are prevailing, there are more days with rain and clouds but less overall rainfall, while in the winter there are more sunny days but the rain is much heavier when it comes (one storm in 2002 dropped 36 inches in 24 hours). At lower elevations (at least in Hilo) the summer rain also tends to be more at night.
This summer has had a little extra, but I don't think it's that extreme, especially considering how dry the past three years have been even on the windward side. This past winter we only had about half the normal rainfall in Hilo. And the weather is very variable: I used to live in Volcano and we had a period in the mid 90's when it literally did not stop raining there for three months. This was only a year or so after it was so dry there (where it normally gets 120"/year) that our catchment tank ran out.
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Jeez, in what is one of the most depressing times of my life, you, pog, has just made my day! (or night!)
Mary, none of us can do anything about the weather. I come from a country whose culture is to moan about the weather no matter what. If it's good they'll moan about how it wasn't forecast. If it's bad they'll moan about how it wasn't forecast. At the end of the day they go out to a pub and exchange moans about the weather and love it, but in the end accept it, it's just the way it is. I spent seven years living in a place that had its own micro-climate. Cold, cloudy and drizzled all the time, the stuff that made you wet through but wasn't heavy rain but you were just so miserably cold and wet anything would be better. Even when the rest of the country had the most spectacularly cold winter that everywhere was covered in snow, and a beautiful sight it was, it drizzled cold and body-infusing wetness where I was. A walk back from the pub was done quickly to avoid hypothermia or at the very least avoid your umbrella being torn to pieces by 50-mph winds. And yet it still drizzled. At 50-mph, so was also quite painful...
I'm going back there for a few days because I miss the place, but not because I want to experience the weather again. The people there were special, that's what I want to experience again.
Make friends, enjoy the quirkiness and uniqueness of this island, have fun with your new friends and just learn to live with what nature throws at us. It's a good attitude to have here and will serve you well.
Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/
Shoots Tom,
Humblest thanks man.
We are in the same boat life wise . ... Maybe not for same reasons but happy to listen with alacrity anytime.
My little guy can learn and be inspired by you.
aloha,
pog
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wow, so far this is perfect weather for me! Mary, this is the windward side. It rains here a LOT! Do tell us when the garage sale is! 
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