LAHAINA NOON - "SHADOWLESS NOON" .... BACK AGAIN

The Hawaii term for the day when the sun is directly overhead is "Lahaina Noon". Not only is Lahaina an important seaport and former capital of the islands, but the word Lahaina means, "Cruel Sun" - which is exactly what the sun is when it's directly overhead. Sometimes this day is referred to as the day of the "shadowless noon", however this can lead to some misperceptions. First of all, the sun does cast a shadow at the Lahaina Noon. It's only objects that stand straight up, like flag-poles, telephone-poles, etc., that cast no shadow at Lahaina Noon. Secondly, Lahaina Noon only happens at "local noon", when the sun is at its highest point for your specific location (island). Every location has its own time for local noon - the time of local noon is also provided in the Lahaina Noon list below. Hawai'i is the only state in the U.S. that experiences the Lahaina Noon. Because of our location within the tropics, this happens twice each year.

Check out Lahaina Noon