2016’s First Lahaina Noon Is May 15; Next 2016 Lahaina Noon Is July 11

Summary: 2016’s first Lahaina Noon, in which the sun is directly overhead at solar noon, happens Sunday, May 15, at 12:19 p.m. in Hilo, Hawaii.

Lahaina Noon, with shadowless downtown Honolulu, May 26, 2010: Daniel Ramirez (jdnx), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

The first occurrence of 2016’s first Lahaina Noon, in which the sun is directly overhead at solar noon, happens Sunday, May 15, at 12:19 p.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HAST), at Ka Lae, known as South Point. Located on the Big Island, Ka Lae marks the southernmost points of both the Hawaiian Islands and the United States.

Hawaii is the only state in the United States where the tropical solar phenomenon, known popularly as Lahaina Noon, occurs. The state’s location in the tropics, south of the Tropic of Cancer, accounts for the Hawaiian Islands’ experience of a truly overhead sun twice year, in May and again in July. The tropical band, northward 23.4371 degrees from the Equator to the Tropic of Cancer and southward 23.4371 degrees to the Tropic of Capricorn, is the only place on Earth where the sun reaches its zenith, or highest point in the sky, and sunlight angles perpendicularly with the Earth’s surface, at solar noon.

Times and dates of the zenith passage depend upon tropical latitude. The most southerly of Hawaii’s eight major, windward islands experience May 2016's Lahaina Noon earlier than the most northerly windward islands. The May 2016 schedule for Lahaina Noon spans Sunday, May 15, to Monday, May 30.

Hawaii’s largest museum, the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Oahu’s historic Kalihi district, gives times for May 2016’s Lahaina Noon for 11 locations. The next timed occurrence of Lahaina Noon, after Ka Lae’s initial welcome, takes place Wednesday, May 18. Hilo, on the Island of Hawaii’s east central coast, experiences Lahaina Noon at 12:16 p.m. HAST (10:16 Coordinated Universal Time).

Four minutes after Hilo’s overhead sun, the next Lahaina Noon takes place. On May 18, at 12:20 p.m. HAST (10:16 UTC) in Kailua-Kona. Kailua-Kona is sited on the Big Island’s west central coast.

On Monday, May 23, Hana welcomes the zenith sun at 12:20 p.m. HAST (10:20 UTC). Hana is located on the east coast of Maui. Maui is the Hawaiian Islands’ second largest island.

Also on May 23, Lanai City, in central Lanai, experiences the overhead sun at 12:24 p.m. HAST (10:24 UTC). The Hawaiian Islands’ sixth largest island lies west of Maui.

On Tuesday, May 24, Kahului welcomes Lahaina Noon at 12:22 p.m. HAST (10:22 UTC). Kahului is located on the northern side of Maui’s isthmus.

One minute later, at 12:23 p.m. HAST (10:23 UTC), Lahaina claims the overhead sun. The tropical getaway in West Maui has a storied history as the center of the global whaling industry and as a two-time royal capital, anciently for Maui and recently, from 1820 to 1845, for the Kingdom of Hawaii.

On Wednesday, May 25, Kaunakakai witnesses Lahaina Noon at 12:25 p.m. HAST (10:25 UTC). Kaunakakai is located on the south shore of Molokai, the fifth largest of the eight main Hawaiian Islands.

On Thursday, May 26, Honolulu experiences the zenith sun at 12:28 p.m. HAST (10:25 UTC). The Hawaiian Islands’ largest city is located on the southeastern shore of Oahu, third largest of the main Hawaiian Islands.

On Friday, May 27, exactly 24 hours after Honolulu’s Lahaina Noon, Kaneohe observes the overhead sun at 12:28 p.m. HAST (10:28 UTC). Kaneohe is sited on Oahu’s northeastern shore.

The last Lahaina Noon time given by the Bishop Museum takes place Monday, May 30. Lihue greets Lahaina Noon at 12:35 p.m. HAST. Lihue is located on the southeastern coast of Kauai, the fourth largest of the eight main Hawaiian Islands.

The second sweep of Lahaina Noon for 2016 takes place in July. Hawaii’s windward islands variously experience Lahaina Noon from Monday, July 11, to Thursday, July 28.

The popular term of Lahaina Noon originates in a naming contest held by the Bishop Museum in 1990. Lahaina derives from the Hawaiian word Lā haina, which means “cruel sun.”

The takeaway for May 15 as 2016’s first Lahaina Noon and July 11 as the second Lahaina Noon sweep across the eight main Hawaiian Islands is that the tropical solar phenomenon gives a true experience of the zenith sun to residents of and visitors to the United States’ paradisical 50th state.

overhead sun, with sunlight angled perpendicularly with the Earth's surface, only happens in tropical band demarcated northward by the Tropic of Cancer and southward by the Tropic of Capricorn: cmglee/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Lahaina Noon, with shadowless downtown Honolulu, May 26, 2010: Daniel Ramirez (jdnx), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/danramarch/4674121288/

overhead sun, with sunlight angled perpendicularly with the Earth's surface, only happens in tropical band demarcated northward by the Tropic of Cancer and southward by the Tropic of Capricorn: cmglee/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Axial_tilt_vs_tropical_and_polar_circles.svg

For further information:

Ali, Nancy Alima. “Noon Sun Not Directly Overhead Everywhere.” Star Bulletin Archives. May 11, 2010.
Available @ http://archives.starbulletin.com/content/20100511_Noon_sun_not_directly_overhead_everywhere/

Bryan, E.H. (Edwin Horace), Jr.; Richard Crowe; and Timothy F. Slater. Stars Over Hawaii. Third revised edition. Hilo HI: Petroglyph Press, 2015.

“Lahaina Noon 2016: Tips to Avoid Sunburn on Hawaii Vacations.” Beat of Hawaii. April 30, 2016.
Available @ http://beatofhawaii.com/lahaina-noon-10-tips-to-avoid-sunburn-on-hawaii-vacation/

"Lahaina Noon 2016: When the Sun Casts no Shadow." Okunomichi > May 2016.
Available @ https://okunomichi.wordpress.com/2016/05/07/1711/

“May 2016 Skies.” University of Hawaii at Hilo ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center > Sky Information > Monthly Star Charts and Sky Calendars > 2016.
Available @ http://www.imiloahawaii.org/assets/SkyChartMay2016.pdf

“Skywatch May 2016.” Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum.
Available @ http://www.bishopmuseum.org/skywatch-may-2016/