What to Wear in Maui in December

Pack one winter outfit for one morning. NOAA's normals for Kahului give December 28.5°C by day and 65.9°F at night, with 71mm of rain over about 10 days, the airport's wettest month from November to February, though the National Weather Service in Honolulu notes that "it is unusual for any rain to last more than a few hours". The coast needs only a sundress. The summit of Haleakalā does not. At 10,023 feet it runs about 30°F colder than the shore, NWS puts winter nights above 10,000 feet in the 20s Fahrenheit, and the park warns that the hours around dawn are "regularly wet, windy, and below freezing" and that "there is no food, clothing, or gas for sale in the park". Sunrise reservations cover 3am to 7am, and the sun clears the rim at about a quarter to seven. Wear down, wool, gloves and boots up the mountain, and be back in a sundress by lunch.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Dark brown down jacket, stand collar, hip length

   The Park Service puts the summit at about 30°F colder than the coast, and the hours before sunrise at "regularly wet, windy, and below freezing". Down gives the most warmth for its weight of anything you can pack for a single morning. A stand collar keeps the wind off your neck at the rim, and hip length leaves your legs free for the steps. For the other six days it squashes into a corner of the suitcase.

2. 
   02

   Kelly-green cable-knit crew sweater

   Wear it under the down at the summit and on its own Upcountry, where NOAA's normals for Kula give December nights of 54.5°F. A cable knit holds warm air in its ridges, and kelly green is the one bright note against the brown jacket and the cranberry hat, which puts Christmas colours on a mountain in the dark.

3. 
   03

   Cranberry ribbed wool beanie

   NWS Honolulu puts winter nights above 10,000 feet in the 20s Fahrenheit, and the park says summit winds can pass 80 miles an hour in a storm. A ribbed wool beanie pulled over your ears decides whether you watch the sunrise from the rim or from the car. Cranberry is also easy to find in a dark car park at five.

4. 
   04

   Dark brown leather gloves, lined, short cuff

   You spend the last stretch before sunrise standing still at the rim with a phone or a camera in your hand. Lined leather keeps your fingers working in wind below freezing, and a short cuff tucks under the jacket sleeve without a gap. Dark brown matches the down.

5. 
   05

   Dark-wash straight jeans

   Cover your legs: the Park Service's list for the summit names "pants", and bare legs in wind below freezing is a mistake you make once. Straight dark denim sits over the boots, blocks the wind at the knee, and then does a second job at an Upcountry dinner in Makawao on another night.

6. 
   06

   Brown lace-up leather boots, rubber lug sole

   For the summit the park asks for "sturdy shoes (hiking boots or athletic shoes)", and before dawn the ground there is uneven and cold enough to chill your feet through a thin sole. Lace-up leather with a lug sole grips the steps and paths around the overlooks and keeps the cold off, and the boots go with the jeans at dinner.

7. 
   07

   Butter-yellow tiered sundress

   Back at sea level by lunch, Kahului averages 28.5°C. A strappy tiered sundress is the whole outfit for the south shore, and a tie waist keeps its shape on a breezy beach walk. Butter yellow is as far from the summit's brown and cranberry as the rest of the day is from the morning.

8. 
   08

   Tan raffia H-strap slides

   Flat slides that come off in a second at the sand line and go back on for lunch. Raffia rinses clean of salt, and an H-strap holds your foot better on a sandy path than a single band. Tan sits under the yellow dress without competing with it.

A suggested look — dark brown down jacket, green cable-knit sweater, dark-wash straight jeans, brown lace-up boots, cranberry wool beanie.

What to avoid

• Shorts and slides at the summit — nothing to buy inside the park
• Sunrise without a reservation — required for the 3am to 7am window
• Expecting a weather refund — reservations are not refunded for cloud or rain
• Disturbing cultural practice — Haleakalā is sacred to Native Hawaiians
• Chemical sunscreen — its use is banned in Maui County