National Weather Service Text Product Display

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Honolulu, HI
Versions: 1 2 3
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AXHW70 PHFO 091807
DGTHFO
HIC001-003-007-009-102200-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
805 AM HST THU MAY 9 2013

...EXTREME DROUGHT SURVIVES A FIFTH CONSECUTIVE WET SEASON ON THE
BIG ISLAND...


SYNOPSIS...

WHILE THE WEST HALF OF THE STATE SLOWLY PULLED OUT OF DROUGHT
THROUGH THE COURSE OF THE 2012-2013 WET SEASON...EXTREME
DROUGHT...OR THE D3 CATEGORY IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR
MAP...PERSISTED THROUGH YET ANOTHER WET SEASON ON THE BIG ISLAND.
THE CURRENT AREA OF D3 CONDITIONS INCLUDES A PORTION OF THE
POHAKULOA REGION OF THE HAMAKUA DISTRICT AND THE LOWER SLOPES OF THE
SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT NEAR KAWAIHAE AND PUAKO.  SEVERE DROUGHT...OR
D2 CONDITIONS...COVER THE REST OF THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT AND ALSO
THE UPPER SLOPES OF THE NORTH KONA AND SOUTH KONA DISTRICTS.

THE ISLAND OF MAUI ALSO HAS PERSISTENT EXTREME DROUGHT OVER THE
SOUTHWEST SLOPE OF HALEAKALA INCLUDING THE KIHEI...KAMAOLE...AND
ULUPALAKUA AREAS.  EXTREME DROUGHT ON MAUI HAS LASTED THROUGH TWO
CONSECUTIVE WET SEASONS.  SEVERE DROUGHT CONTINUES TO COVER THE
LOWER SOUTHEAST SLOPE OF HALEAKALA NEAR KAUPO...AND THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS OF WEST MAUI FROM MAALAEA TO KAANAPALI.

DROUGHT CONTINUES TO EASE IN PORTIONS OF WEST MOLOKAI WITH THE
REMOVAL OF MODERATE DROUGHT...OR THE D1 CATEGORY.  HOWEVER...SEVERE
DROUGHT PERSISTS FOR AGRICULTURE AREAS SERVED BY THE KUALAPUU
RESERVOIR DUE TO CONTINUED LOW SUPPLY LEVELS.  RESERVOIR WATER
LEVELS HAVE INCREASED SLOWLY OVER THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS BUT HAVE
NOT RISEN TO PRE-DROUGHT CONDITIONS.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

KAUAI.
THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO DROUGHT AREAS ON KAUAI.

OAHU.
SEVERAL LATE SEASON COLD FRONTS BROUGHT ENOUGH RAINFALL TO REMOVE
DROUGHT AS VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE IMPROVED.  SEVERAL RAIN GAGES
IN WEST OAHU RECORDED THEIR HIGHEST APRIL RAINFALL TOTALS IN OVER 20
YEARS.

MOLOKAI.
WEST MOLOKAI CONTINUES TO SEE IMPROVING AGRICULTURE AND GENERAL
VEGETATION CONDITIONS.  SATELLITE-BASED VEGETATION HEALTH DATA SHOW
GOOD CONDITIONS OVER MOST AREAS OF THE ISLAND.

THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MAINTAINED A MANDATORY
REDUCTION IN IRRIGATION WATER CONSUMPTION OF 20 PERCENT FOR FARMERS
SERVED BY THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR.  THE RESTRICTION WAS REDUCED FROM
30 PERCENT TO 20 PERCENT ON APRIL 2 2013.

LANAI.
SATELLITE-BASED VEGETATION HEALTH DATA SHOW A DETERIORATION OF
CONDITIONS OVER THE PAST MONTH.  HOWEVER... RAINFALL OVER THE PAST
WEEK MAY HAVE HALTED THE SLIDE TOWARD WORSE CONDITIONS.

MAUI.
ULUPALAKUA RANCH HAS JUST COMPLETED ITS DRIEST WET SEASON ON
RECORD.  AN EARLY MAY COLD FRONT BROUGHT SOME NEEDED RAINFALL BUT
MUCH MORE IS NEEDED.  PASTURES IN THE EXISTING DROUGHT
AREAS...ESPECIALLY IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS NEAR KIHEI...WERE
DESTOCKED MANY MONTHS AGO.  THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER
SUPPLY HAS MAINTAINED THEIR LONG-STANDING REQUEST FOR A 10 PERCENT
REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY CENTRAL AND SOUTH MAUI RESIDENTS.

BIG ISLAND.
APRIL IS NORMALLY ONE OF THE WETTEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR FOR THE
EAST-FACING SLOPES OF THE BIG ISLAND.  HOWEVER...A LACK OF TRADE
WIND RAINFALL RESULTED IN VERY DRY CONDITIONS.  THE FARM SERVICE
AGENCY REPORTED THAT GINGER ROOT AND SWEET POTATO FARMERS ARE DOING
FINE SO FAR BUT DROUGHT IMPACTS WILL APPEAR IF DRY CONDITIONS
PERSIST THROUGH MAY.  RANCHERS NEAR SOUTH POINT INDICATED THAT
PASTURE CONDITIONS ARE DETERIORATING FOLLOWING A BRIEF PERIOD OF
REGROWTH.  THE DRY CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN BENEFICIAL TO SOME.  A
RAMBUTAN FARMER MENTIONED RECENTLY THAT THE DRY WEATHER HAS
STIMULATED FLOWER GROWTH...THOUGH RAINFALL WILL BE NEEDED SOON.

CLIMATE SUMMARY...
ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...ENSO-NEUTRAL
CONDITIONS REMAIN IN PLACE AND ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH THE
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE SUMMER.

PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON APRIL 18 BY THE
NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATES THAT PROBABILITIES DO NOT
FAVOR ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF
SPRING.  HOWEVER...EVEN WITH NORMAL PRECIPITATION...DECREASING
AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED HEADING INTO THE DRIEST TIME OF THE
YEAR FOR MOST LOCATIONS IN THE STATE.  THE SOLE EXCEPTION IS THE
KONA SLOPES OF THE BIG ISLAND WHICH IS THE ONLY AREA IN THE ISLAND
CHAIN WITH A DISTINCT SUMMER-TIME PEAK IN RAINFALL.  THE NEXT
LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON
MAY 16.

HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
DATA FROM THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY INDICATE THAT MOST OF THE
MONITORED STREAMS ACROSS THE STATE HAVE FLOW AVERAGES FOR APRIL IN
THE BELOW NORMAL RANGE.  AVERAGE STREAM FLOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO
REMAIN LOW DUE TO THE ONSET OF THE DRY SEASON.

NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON JUNE 6 2013
OR SOONER IF NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN
CONDITIONS.

&&

RELATED WEB SITES...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND
AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/

U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML
HAWAII DROUGHT MONITOR...HAWAII.GOV/DLNR/DROUGHT/INDEX.HTML
USGS HAWAII - RECENT CONDITIONS...HI.WATER.USGS.GOV/RECENT/INDEX.HTML
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER LONG-LEAD HAWAII OUTLOOK...
WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/PRODUCTS/PREDICTIONS/90DAY/FXHW40.HTML
HAWAII DROUGHT IMPACT REPORTER...HAWAII.DROUGHTREPORTER.UNL.EDU/

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...
INFORMATION FOR THIS PRODUCT WAS COMPILED FROM A NUMBER OF SOURCES
INCLUDING THE COUNTY BOARDS AND DEPARTMENTS OF WATER SUPPLY...U.S.
AND STATE OF HAWAII AGRICULTURE AGENCIES...THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY AND THE MEDIA.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT
INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT...

KEVIN KODAMA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
2525 CORREA RD. SUITE 250
HONOLULU HI  96822
PHONE...808-973-5276
KEVIN.KODAMA@NOAA.GOV

$$
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
