Hawaii climate

Hawaii Plant Hardiness Zones

Hawaii’s towns run from zone 11a to zone 13a: the average coldest winter night is 60.1°F at Marine Corps Base Hawaii - MCBH and 42.7°F at Volcano.

Hardiness zones in Hawaii

In USDA’s colors, neighboring states washed out. Zones follow elevation, coasts and cities down to half a mile. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Map of the 2023 plant hardiness zones across Hawaii, from zone 9a to zone 13a, with the state’s border drawn.
  • 9a
  • 9b
  • 10a
  • 10b
  • 11a
  • 11b
  • 12a
  • 12b
  • 13a

Open the live map with plant hardiness zones

Towns by zone

Each town’s 1991-2020 average annual extreme minimum at its center, read from the map’s 800 m grid. Warmest zone first.

13a Zone 13a, 60 to 65°F 1 towns

12b Zone 12b, 55 to 60°F 201 towns

12a Zone 12a, 50 to 55°F 45 towns

11b Zone 11b, 45 to 50°F 5 towns

11a Zone 11a, 40 to 45°F 2 towns

Counties

At the county’s center; a county with hills or a coast spans several zones.

CountyZone at the centerAverage coldest night
Hawaii County10a30.9°F
Honolulu County12a53°F
Kalawao County12b58.3°F
Kauai County12a50.9°F
Maui County11b45.1°F

The zones

A plant hardiness zone is set by the average of each winter’s single coldest temperature, 1991 to 2020: zones are 10°F apart and each half zone, a and b, 5°F. It says how cold a winter night usually gets, not the coldest it has ever been, and nothing about summer heat, rain or soil. Plant labels give the coldest zone a perennial survives in.

ZoneAverage coldest nightIn Celsius
11a40 to 45°F4.4 to 7.2°C
11b45 to 50°F7.2 to 10.0°C
12a50 to 55°F10.0 to 12.8°C
12b55 to 60°F12.8 to 15.6°C
13a60 to 65°F15.6 to 18.3°C

Sources

Hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, from the GIS data of the PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, which may be freely reproduced and redistributed. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.