AXHW70 PHFO 021650 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-032200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 650 AM HST THU JUN 2 2011 ...LATE WET SEASON RAINFALL HELPS EASE BIG ISLAND DROUGHT... SYNOPSIS... RAINFALL DURING APRIL AND EARLY MAY HELPED REDUCE AGRICULTURAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER PORTIONS OF THE LEEWARD BIG ISLAND SLOPES. THIS HELPED KNOCK DOWN A STUBBORN POCKET OF EXTREME DROUGHT...OR D3 CATEGORY CONDITIONS ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...TO SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CONDITIONS OVER THE POHAKULOA AREA. THE BIG ISLAND IS FINALLY FREE OF EXTREME DROUGHT WHICH HAS BEEN IN PLACE CONTINUOUSLY SINCE JULY 7 2009. SEVERE DROUGHT ALSO PERSISTS NEAR THE KAWAIHAE AREA OF THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT. ELSEWHERE ON THE BIG ISLAND...AREAS OF MODERATE DROUGHT...OR D1 CONDITIONS...CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF THE LEEWARD SLOPES FROM THE NORTH KOHALA DISTRICT TO KAU. IN MAUI COUNTY...MODERATE DROUGHT CONTINUES OVER THE LEEWARD SLOPES FROM LAHAINA TO MAKENA AND OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF MOLOKAI. KAUAI AND OAHU REMAIN DROUGHT-FREE. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. OAHU. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. THE WATER SUPPLY IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR REMAINS WELL ABOVE DROUGHT LEVEL. HOWEVER...THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IS MAINTAINING A 10 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER USE AS A PRECAUTION FOR THE DRY SEASON. MOLOKAI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE MAY 5 UPDATE. THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE HAS KEPT IN PLACE THE MANDATORY 30 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER CONSUMPTION. LANAI. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. MAUI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION FROM KAONOULU TO KAMAOLE NEAR KIHEI HAVE RECOVERED ENOUGH TO SUPPORT CATTLE RANCHING OPERATIONS. HOWEVER...DRYNESS PERSISTS OVER THE LEEWARD SLOPES AND CONDITIONS MAY WORSEN HEADING INTO THE HEART OF THE DRY SEASON. THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN REPORTS OF AXIS DEER ENCROACHMENTS INTO DEVELOPED AREAS NEAR WAILEA DUE TO FORAGE DEGRADATION IN THE NORMAL RANGE LANDS. WATER SUPPLY LEVELS REMAIN SUFFICIENT FOR UPCOUNTRY MAUI. HOWEVER...AS A PRECAUTION...THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY CONTINUES TO REQUEST A 5 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY UPCOUNTRY RESIDENTS. A 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY CENTRAL AND SOUTH MAUI RESIDENTS ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT. BIG ISLAND. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN SLOWLY IMPROVING OVER PORTIONS OF THE LEEWARD BIG ISLAND SLOPES. HOWEVER...REPORTS FROM THE AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY SUGGEST THAT THIS RECOVERY MAY BE SHORT-LIVED SINCE SOIL MOISTURE REMAINS POOR HEADING DEEPER INTO THE DRY SEASON. ONE MAJOR CATTLE RANCHING OPERATION HAS ALREADY STARTED DESTOCKING HERDS. ANOTHER COMPLICATION AFFECTING THE UPSLOPE LEEWARD PASTURES IS AN INFESTATION OF FIREWEED WHICH HAS REPLACED NORMAL LIVESTOCK GRASSES THAT WERE KILLED BY THE EXTREME TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS. FIREWEED IS POISONOUS TO CATTLE AND ALSO POSES AN INCREASE IN FIRE RISK BECAUSE IT IS NOT GRAZED. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...LA NINA IS EXPECTED TO TRANSITION TO ENSO-NEUTRAL BY SUMMER 2011. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON MAY 19 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATES THAT PROBABILITIES FAVORED BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SUMMER 2011. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON JUNE 16. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR MAY INDICATED THAT MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS ON KAUAI AND OAHU WERE WELL ABOVE NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. HOWEVER...MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS IN MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND WERE AT NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. AVERAGE FLOW LEVELS ACROSS THE STATE ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE OVERALL HEADING INTO THE DRY SEASON. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON JULY 11 2011 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 $$