From his office on the edge of Mānoa Valley in Honolulu, University of Hawaiʻi meteorologist Steven Businger often sees rainbows, some that last all day. According to Hawaiian legend, these heavenly arcs embody the presence of Kahalapuna, the daughter of a chief and chiefess who mourned her death by transforming themselves into their spirit forms, the Mānoa wind and misty rain. When these divine spirits blow through the valley, Kahalapuna appears as a rainbow. The Hawaiian language has more than 20 words describing this “spectacular phenomenon,” says Businger, including Earth-clinging…
