AXHW70 PHFO 041923 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-052200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 920 AM HST THU AUG 4 2011 ...BIG ISLAND DROUGHT WORSENING AGAIN WITH BELOW NORMAL JULY RAINFALL... SYNOPSIS... BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL AND WARMER TEMPERATURES DURING JULY HAVE RESULTED IN A WORSENING OF DROUGHT CONDITIONS ON THE ISLAND OF HAWAII. THUS...THE AREA OF MODERATE DROUGHT...OR D1 CATEGORY CONDITIONS ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...SPREAD FROM THE SOUTH KAU DISTRICT INTO THE SOUTH KONA DISTRICT AND NORTHEASTWARD TOWARD THE VOLCANO AREA. MODERATE DROUGHT ALSO INCREASED IN COVERAGE OVER THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT AND SPREAD INTO THE UPPER HAMAKUA DISTRICT. SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CONDITIONS...REMAINED IN PLACE NEAR KAWAIHAE. IN MAUI COUNTY...MODERATE DROUGHT CONTINUES TO AFFECT THE LEEWARD AREAS FROM LAHAINA TO MAKENA AND 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 HAS BEEN DECREASING BUT REMAINS ABOVE DROUGHT LEVEL. HOWEVER...THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IS MAINTAINING A VOLUNTARY 10 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER USE AS A PRECAUTION. MOLOKAI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE JULY 11 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. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE JULY 11 UPDATE. WATER SUPPLY LEVELS REMAIN SUFFICIENT FOR UPCOUNTRY MAUI. HOWEVER...AS A PRECAUTION...THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY CONTINUED 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 REMAINED IN EFFECT. BIG ISLAND. PASTURE CONDITIONS HAVE DETERIORATED OVER THE PAST MONTH AND RANCHERS IN THE SOUTH KOHALA...UPPER HAMAKUA AND LOWER SOUTH KONA DISTRICTS HAVE BEEN DESTOCKING CATTLE AND INCREASING WATER HAULING OPERATIONS. TREE GROWERS IN THE UPPER HAMAKUA DISTRICT HAVE ALSO BEEN FORCED TO IRRIGATE TO KEEP SEEDLINGS ALIVE. IMPACTS WILL LIKELY INCREASE OVER THE COMING WEEKS IF BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL CONTINUES AS EXPECTED. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC IS IN AN ENSO-NEUTRAL STATE...THOUGH THE ATMOSPHERE STILL REFLECTS ASPECTS OF LA NINA. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON JULY 21 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED THAT PROBABILITIES FAVORED BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SUMMER AND EARLY FALL 2011. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON AUGUST 18. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR JULY INDICATED THAT ALL OF THE MONITORED STREAMS ON THE BIG ISLAND WERE AT BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS ON THE REMAINING ISLANDS WERE AT NEAR NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. AVERAGE FLOW LEVELS ACROSS THE STATE ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE OVERALL THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE DRY SEASON. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 8 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 $$