Hawaii is the rainbow capital of the world. Here's what that means

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii's regular sunshine, short rain showers and clean air come together to create some of the planet's best conditions for viewing rainbows. They're such a frequent sight that a University of Hawaii professor calls the state the “rainbow capital of the world.”

Right now it's the winter rainy season in the islands, which means the odds of seeing a rainbow are even higher than usual.

Rainbows emerge so often in Hawaii they've become popular symbols of island life. Pictures of them adorn buildings, the sides of public buses and appear on standard vehicle license plates. University of Hawaii sports teams are even named after rainbows.

“For me, rainbows really signify hope and new beginnings,” said Liane Usher, the president of the Children's Discovery Center in Honolulu, which features rainbows on its exterior wall and in its exploration rooms. “I can’t ever help but smile whenever I see a rainbow after the rain.”

Here are some things to know about rainbows in Hawaii.

Rainbows form when raindrops refract sunlight into a spectrum of colors. The brighter the sun, the clearer the rainbow.

Look for them when it is both sunny and raining at the same time. They will appear opposite the sun. They will seem larger and higher in the sky in the early morning and late afternoon, when the sun is lower on the horizon.

Steven Businger, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, says the archipelago's trade winds bring many small showers with enough blue sky between them for the sun to shine through.

Hawaii's clean air also helps. Other places tend to have more air particles from dust, pollen and cars. Conditions improve further during Hawaii's rainy season, which lasts from October through April.

“Hawaii has maybe the best rainbows on the planet,” Businger said.

Businger created an app called RainbowChase to help people find rainbows in Hawaii.

Rainbows are so prevalent that there are about 20 names for them in the Hawaiian language, according to a Manoa website, including distinct words for rainbow fragments and those that sit low on the horizon.

Rainbows represent divine or supernatural power in Native Hawaiian tradition.

Sam 'Ohu Gon III, senior scientist and cultural adviser at The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii, said rainbows are considered a symbol of Kāne, one of the four main gods in Hawaiian tradition. Traditionally, the closer one got to a rainbow, the more likely they were to encounter a supernatural force, or an extremely powerful or chiefly person, he said.

In one centuries-old story, a rainbow appears over the secluded home of a Hawaiian princess for four straight days. Another emerges above the ocean when her suitor arrives, a man so strong his punch pierces an opponent’s chest like a spear.

To Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, a teacher and Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, a rainbow signals an “aumakua,” which is a deified ancestor or a family or personal god.

“When those of our loved ones go before us, they precede us in life and they leave us in this realm. They are able sometimes to show their presence," Wong-Kalu said. "The rainbow is one of those ways.”

Rainbows let her know spiritual protection is present and that she is loved and watched over, said Wong-Kalu, who is also known as Kumu Hina.

Rainbow imagery decorates everything from buildings and restaurant facades to athletic uniforms.

The Hawaii men’s athletic teams are called Rainbow Warriors and the women’s teams are Rainbow Wahine, using the Hawaiian word for women. The teams are called ‘Bows’ for short.

The origin of the rainbow mascot dates to New Year's Day in 1924. Hawaii was locked in a scoreless tie against the visiting Oregon Aggies when a rainbow appeared over the field. Hawaii scored soon after and reporters began calling the team the Rainbows, according to the book “Hawai'i Sports: History, Facts and Statistics.”

The Hawaii football team in 2000 dropped “Rainbow” from its nickname when a coach expressed concern it carried a “stigma” because of its association with the LGBTQ+ community. The school restored the name in 2013.

When Kimberly Carlson was a professor at Manoa, she saw a rainbow outside her apartment window that made her wonder how climate change would affect them.

Now a New York University environmental studies professor, she's studied the impact over the next century.

Her team's analysis, published in a paper two years ago, predicts Brazil, the Mediterranean and parts of Central Africa will have fewer rainbows by 2100. They found places that currently get lots of snow, but that will instead receive more rain, will likely see more rainbows. Alaska falls in that category.

Scientists believe rainbows will continue to be plentiful in Hawaii, but in the coming decades, longer dry spells might lead to fewer rainbows on the arid, leeward sides of the islands, Businger, the atmospheric sciences professor, said. Maui and the Big Island might be particularly affected, he said.

The singular experience of glimpsing a rainbow makes them worth studying, he said.

“Rainbows are a cultural touchstone for us. They cause us to stand still and for a moment, forget about the past and the future,” Businger said. “We are really in the moment when we see a spectacular rainbow, and that’s a rare experience in our busy lives.”

In this image taken through a window, a rainbow appears in the sky on Dec. 23, 2023, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

CORRECTS DATE A rainbow appears over a soccer field on Sept. 7, 2024, in Waipahu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

The Rainbow Drive-In, a popular local eatery in Honolulu, is seen on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Honolulu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Rainbow Shave Ice is seen at Waiola Shave Ice, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Honolulu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

CORRECTS DATE A rainbow appears in the sky on Sept. 24, 2021, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

Members of the Napili Canoe Club run on the beach as a rainbow forms nearby on Monday, July 8, 2024, at Hanakao'o Park in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Two rainbows are seen in the sky on April 24, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

A rainbow arches over a Honolulu Skyline train at sunset, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

A rainbow appears over a soccer field on Oct. 28, 2024, in Waipahu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

FILE - Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang, front right, wears a shirt showing his team’s Rainbow Warriors mascot before an NCAA college football game against San Diego State, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File)

The Rainbow Tower of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is seen on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Honolulu. The iconic 31-story Rainbow Mural was designed by artist Millard Sheets in 1968. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Two rainbows are seen in the sky on April 24, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

A rainbow appears in the sky on Oct. 28, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

FILE - Joseph Heher photographs rainbows at Shipwreck's Beach, Grand Hyatt Kauai, Hawaii, July 2, 2010, in Hawaii. (AP Photo/Ashley Heher, File)

FILE - A tourist takes photos of a rainbow on the road that leads to Haleakala National Park on the Hawaiian island of Maui, Dec. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine, File)

People gather outside a farmers market while a rainbow appears in the background in Kamuela, Hawaii, on Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/ Audrey McAvoy)

A rainbow forms as members of the Napili Canoe Club run on the beach on Monday, July 8, 2024, at Hanakao'o Park in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Members of the Napili Canoe Club run sprints on the beach as a rainbow forms nearby on Monday, July 8, 2024, at Hanakao'o Park in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

FILE -A rainbow is seen in the sky from President Barack Obama's motorcade as it passes Kaneohe Bay heading for the beach at Bellows Air Force Station, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, on the final day of the Obama family vacation. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - Professional surfers make their way to the water while a large rainbow crosses the ocean during the Pro Hawaii surfing contest at Ali'i Beach in Haleiwa, Hawaii, Nov. 18, 2005. (AP Photo/Lucy Pemoni, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)