National Weather Service Text Product Display

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Honolulu, HI
Versions: 1 2
000
AXHW70 PHFO 062014
DGTHFO
HIC001-003-007-009-072200-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1001 AM HST THU JUN 6 2013

...WETTER THAN AVERAGE MAY EASES EXTREME DROUGHT ON THE BIG ISLAND...

SYNOPSIS...

THE MONTH OF MAY PRODUCED ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL TOTALS IN MANY
AREAS OF THE STATE.  THIS ANOMALOUS BOOST IN RAINFALL DURING WHAT
SHOULD BE THE START OF THE DRY SEASON BROUGHT WELCOME DROUGHT RELIEF
TO PORTIONS OF MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND.  EXTREME DROUGHT...OR
THE D3 CATEGORY IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...FINALLY EASED TO
THE SEVERE DROUGHT CATEGORY...WHICH CORRESPONDS TO THE D2 LEVEL.
AREAS OF EXTREME DROUGHT HAVE PERSISTED THROUGH FIVE CONSECUTIVE WET
SEASONS ON THE BIG ISLAND AND IT IRONICALLY TOOK DRY SEASON RAINFALL
TO REMOVE IT.  THE AREA OF SEVERE DROUGHT COVERAGE WAS ALSO REDUCED
AND IS CURRENTLY CONFINED TO A PORTION OF THE POHAKULOA REGION IN
THE HAMAKUA DISTRICT AND THE UPPER ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTH KONA AND
SOUTH KONA DISTRICTS.   FORMER AREAS OF SEVERE DROUGHT HAVE BEEN
REPLACED WITH THE MODERATE DROUGHT DESIGNATION...OR D1 LEVEL
CONDITIONS.  THESE AREAS INCLUDE MOST OF THE SOUTH KOHALA
DISTRICT...LEEWARD AREAS OF THE NORTH KOHALA DISTRICT...AND PORTIONS
OF THE KAU DISTRICT.

CONDITIONS ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI ALSO IMPROVED BUT NOT TO THE EXTENT
AS ON THE BIG ISLAND.  EXTREME DROUGHT REDUCED IN COVERAGE BUT HAS
REMAINED STUBBORNLY IN PLACE OVER THE LOWER SOUTHWEST SLOPE OF
HALEAKALA IN THE AREA OF KIHEI...KAMAOLE...AND KAONOULU.  AREAS OF
SEVERE DROUGHT CONTINUED TO COVER LOWER LEEWARD ELEVATIONS FROM
LAHAINA TO MAALAEA...AND UPCOUNTRY MAUI NEAR ULUPALAKUA.

ON MOLOKAI...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.

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS TO DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE SHORT-LIVED AS THE
DRY SEASON HAS STARTED IN EARNEST ACROSS THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
MINIMAL AMOUNTS OF PRECIPITATION HAVE FALLEN SINCE THE LATE MAY
HEAVY RAINFALL.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

KAUAI.
THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO DROUGHT AREAS ON KAUAI.

OAHU.
THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO DROUGHT AREAS ON OAHU.

MOLOKAI.
SATELLITE-BASED VEGETATION HEALTH DATA SHOW GOOD CONDITIONS OVER
MOST AREAS OF THE ISLAND.  RECENT GROUND OBSERVATIONS CONFIRMED THAT
PASTURES WERE FINE NEAR HOOLEHUA.

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 IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE
PAST MONTH...ESPECIALLY IN THE INTERIOR OF THE ISLAND.   NO RECENT
GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED TO CONFIRM THIS.

MAUI.
RECENT REPORTS INDICATED THAT PASTURES IN THE UPPER ELEVATIONS OF
UPCOUNTRY MAUI HAVE SHOWN MODEST IMPROVEMENTS BUT THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS REMAIN IN POOR CONDITION.  THESE LOWER PASTURES 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.
NEAR TO ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL HAS IMPROVED PASTURE CONDITIONS IN
MANY AREAS BUT THERE ARE STILL AREAS OF STUBBORN DRYNESS AND DROUGHT
IMPACTS.  IN THE SOUTH KONA DISTRICT...THE UPPER ELEVATIONS HAVE
BEEN GETTING JUST LIGHT PRECIPITATION SO FARMERS HAVE STILL BEEN
HAULING WATER TO MEET OPERATIONAL NEEDS.  SIMILARLY...THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS OF THE KAU DISTRICT NEAR SOUTH POINT HAVE BEEN GETTING
SOME RAINFALL BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SHOW SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT.

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 MAY 16 BY THE NOAA
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATES THAT PROBABILITIES DO NOT FAVOR
ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH JUNE...THEN FAVOR BELOW
NORMAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER.   THE NEXT
LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON
JUNE 20.

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 MAY IN THE
NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL RANGE.  AVERAGE STREAM FLOW LEVELS ARE
EXPECTED TO DECREASE DUE TO THE FORECAST PROBABILITIES FAVORING
BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE SUMMER.

NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON JULY 11
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
