University of Hawaiʻi launches free personalized monthly climate summaries for subscribers

Community members throughout the Aloha State starting July 1 can receive free, personalized monthly climate updates tailored specifically to their own neighborhood or coastline delivered directly to their inbox.

The new monthly climate summary tool developed by Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal at University of Hawaiʻi translates complex scientific metrics into highly localized, plain-language updates about rainfall, temperature and drought conditions.

Whether you are a rancher monitoring drought signs, a water manager tracking watershed health, a teacher looking for real-world classroom data, or a resident wanting to stay connected to a beloved valley, the tool brings high-resolution climate data directly to the community.

“Not everyone understands how much rainfall typically falls in their area of interest,” said Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal Director Ryan Longman in a university announcement about the new climate tool. “But if you let them know that it was 50% below normal, or that it was the third driest month in the last century; that’s the type of information that anyone can understand.”

Longman is also director of Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center University Consortium at University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College.

Subscribers will be able to customize their summaries using traditional Hawaiian geographic boundaries — moku and ahupuaʻa — as well as standard climate divisions and watershed boundaries, reflecting the Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal team’s commitment to making data meaningful within the state’s unique cultural and ecological landscape.

Community members can visit the Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal climate summary page, select an area of interest on an interactive map and enter their email address.

Users can subscribe to multiple locations. They will receive localized monthly climate overviews, along with access to an online dashboard for digging deeper into current and historical trends.

“We wanted end users to be able to connect with the data from the places that meant the most to them,” said Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal climate climate data analyst and lead climate summary developer Cherryle Heu in the announcement. “When you select a point on the map, the numbers will update to tell you exactly what is going on at that location. Given that Hawaiʻi’s climate is so diverse, this type of tool allows for local insights that a single statewide average can’t capture.”

The tool’s development was initially funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Integrated Drought Information System, until December 2025 when the grant was canceled.

“We were too far along to stop,” Longman said.

Support from Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Commission on Water Resource Management allowed the team to complete the tool, a grant from Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center University Consortium helped support outreach efforts and National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Change Hawaiʻi project provided the cyberinfrastructure foundation that makes the tool run.

The Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal team consists of several grant researchers based in Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College and University of Hawaiʻi Water Resources Research Center. Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange Team also led the effort, along with collaborators throughout the state who helped shape the final product.