| NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1020 AM HST THU SEP 2 2010 ...EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONTINUES ON THE BIG ISLAND... SYNOPSIS... TRADE WINDS WERE PERSISTENT THROUGH THE MONTH OF AUGUST AND PRODUCED SUFFICIENT AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL TO PREVENT DROUGHT OVER MOST OF THE WINDWARD AREAS IN THE STATE. HOWEVER...MOST LEEWARD AREAS STATEWIDE REMAINED VERY DRY. EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT...OR D4 CATEGORY ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...CONTINUED IN THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT AND THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF THE KAU DISTRICT ON THE BIG ISLAND. NO OTHER AREA IN THE U.S. HAS D4 CONDITIONS AS OF AUGUST 31. MOST OF THE REMAINING LEEWARD AREAS ON THE BIG ISLAND WERE UNDER EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS...OR D3 CATEGORY. THE MAIN EXCEPTION WAS THE KONA SLOPES REGION WHERE SUMMER RAINFALL HAS HELPED PRODUCE A POCKET OF DROUGHT RELIEF FOR THE COFFEE BELT. MAUI COUNTY REMAINED VERY DRY WITH ALL OF LANAI...THE WESTERN TWO-THIRDS OF MOLOKAI AND THE LOWER LEEWARD ELEVATIONS OF THE ISLAND OF MAUI UNDER EXTREME AGRICULTURAL DROUGHT. SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CATEGORY...ALSO PERSISTED OVER THE UPCOUNTRY REGION OF MAUI. THE EASTERN END OF OAHU CONTINUED UNDER AN EXTREME DROUGHT CLASSIFICATION DUE TO VERY LOW WATER LEVELS IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR AND SEVERAL MONTHS OF LOW RAINFALL TOTALS. ON KAUAI...PASTURE CONDITIONS HAVE DETERIORATED OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE ISLAND PROMPTING THE RETURN OF A SEVERE DROUGHT DESIGNATION. MODERATE DROUGHT...OR D1 CATEGORY...ALSO EXTENDED ACROSS THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST-FACING LOWER SLOPES OF THE ISLAND. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. AS INDICATED ABOVE...PASTURE CONDITIONS HAVE DETERIORATED AGAIN OVER THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE ISLAND. THIS HAS IMPACTED THE LIVESTOCK SECTOR AND RANCHERS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO REDUCE STOCK OR ROTATE HERDS AT A FASTER RATE. OAHU. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE AUGUST 5. A MANDATORY 30 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER USE AND A REDUCTION IN SERVICE HOURS REMAINED IN PLACE FOR THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR. MOLOKAI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE AUGUST 5. A MANDATORY 30 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER USE REMAINED IN EFFECT FOR FARMERS SUPPLIED BY THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR. PASTURE AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS REMAINED POOR OVER THE WESTERN TWO-THIRDS OF THE ISLAND. LANAI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE AUGUST 5. PASTURE AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS WERE POOR. CATTLE RANCHERS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO SHIP FEED FROM OFF-ISLAND RESULTING IN FINANCIAL IMPACTS. MAUI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE AUGUST 5. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS REMAINED POOR. THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY CONTINUED TO REQUEST A 5 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY UPCOUNTRY RESIDENTS...AND A 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY CENTRAL AND SOUTH MAUI RESIDENTS. BIG ISLAND. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE AUGUST 5. SUMMER RAINS IN THE KONA COFFEE BELT HAVE HELPED WITH GROWING CONDITIONS. HOWEVER...OTHER LEEWARD AREAS REMAINED VERY DRY. AT THE END OF AUGUST...A BRUSH FIRE NEAR MAUNA KEA STATE PARK BURNED THROUGH A LARGE AREA OF VERY DRY VEGETATION. RANCHERS IN THE LOWER KAU AND LEEWARD KOHALA SLOPES CONTINUED TO OPERATE UNDER VERY POOR CONDITIONS AND WERE HAULING WATER AND FEED FOR LIVESTOCK SUSTENANCE. ALONG THE LOWER WINDWARD SLOPES...TRADE WIND SHOWERS HAVE BEEN SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO MITIGATE DROUGHT IMPACTS AND FILL CATCHMENT TANKS BUT AVERAGE DAILY RAINFALL REMAINS BELOW NORMAL. FOR OVER A YEAR...THE ONGOING DROUGHT HAS SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED A WIDE RANGE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS INCLUDING CATTLE...COFFEE... AVOCADOS...RAMBUTAN...BANANAS... MACADAMIA NUTS...LOQUAT AND JABOTICABA. ONLY DROUGHT-RESISTANT TREES AND CROPS HAVE MANAGED TO PRODUCE WELL. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...LA NINA CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT. LA NINA IS AN ANOMALOUS COOLING OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE EQUATORIAL REGION OF THE PACIFIC. THE LATEST FORECAST CALLS FOR LA NINA TO CONTINUE INTO EARLY 2011. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON AUGUST 19 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED PROBABILITIES FAVORING BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION INTO THE MIDDLE OF FALL 2010. BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL ALONG THE WINDWARD SLOPES WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO MANIFEST ITSELF AS A DECREASE IN RAINFALL PER DAY WHILE THE NUMBER OF RAIN-DAYS PER MONTH REMAINS NEAR NORMAL. FARTHER OUT IN TIME...THE EXPECTATION OF LA NINA-RELATED IMPACTS HAS PROMPTED THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER TO FORECAST ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A HIGH LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY REGARDING THE LIKELIHOOD OF ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL IN HAWAII ATTRIBUTED TO LA NINA. THERE HAVE BEEN CASES WITH BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL DURING MODERATE-TO-STRONG LA NINA EVENTS. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 16. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAMFLOW AVERAGES INDICATED THAT MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WERE AT BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. A FEW EXCEPTIONS...MOSTLY DRAINING THE KOOLAU RANGE ON OAHU...WERE IN THE NEAR NORMAL CATEGORY. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THESE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED UNTIL THE WET SEASON STARTS IN OCTOBER. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON OCTOBER 7 2010 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...WWW.HAWAIIDROUGHT.COM 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 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 $$ | |
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