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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