AXHW70 PHFO 082035 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-092200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1035 AM HST THU SEP 8 2011 ...DROUGHT IMPACTS INCREASING ON THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI COUNTY... SYNOPSIS... WELL BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL COMBINED WITH SEASONALLY WARM TEMPERATURES INCREASED DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OVER LEEWARD AREAS OF THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI COUNTY. A MONTH AGO ONLY A SMALL SECTION OF THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT ON THE BIG ISLAND CONTAINED SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CATEGORY CONDITIONS ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP. HOWEVER...CONTINUED DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS HAVE INCREASED SEVERE DROUGHT COVERAGE TO ENCOMPASS MOST OF THE NORTH KONA AND SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICTS AND THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE KAU DISTRICT. LEEWARD BIG ISLAND AREAS NOT UNDER D2 CONDITIONS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE UNDER D1...OR MODERATE DROUGHT. IN MAUI COUNTY...SEVERE DROUGHT HAS RETURNED TO THE LEEWARD HALEAKALA SLOPES FROM KAMAOLE TO ULUPALAKUA AND MODERATE DROUGHT HAS SPREAD NORTHWARD TO COVER UPCOUNTRY MAUI THROUGH MAKAWAO. SEVERE DROUGHT OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF MOLOKAI REMAINED IN PLACE AND MODERATE DROUGHT RETURNED TO LANAI FOLLOWING A FEW MONTHS OF IMPROVED VEGETATION CONDITIONS. KAUAI AND OAHU REMAINED DROUGHT-FREE THOUGH DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS MAY SOON RESULT IN THE ONSET OF DROUGHT-RELATED PROBLEMS. 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 AUGUST 4 UPDATE. THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE HAS KEPT IN PLACE THE MANDATORY 30 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER CONSUMPTION FOR THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR SYSTEM. LANAI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE DECLINED OVER THE PAST MONTH. MAUI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE DECLINED ALONG THE LEEWARD SLOPES OF HALEAKALA AND ARE BEGINNING TO IMPACT RANCHING OPERATIONS. WATER SUPPLY LEVELS FOR UPCOUNTRY MAUI HAVE BEEN DECLINING IN RECENT WEEKS PROMPTING THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY TO REITERATE THEIR CALL FOR A 5 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE. THE REQUEST FOR A 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY CENTRAL AND SOUTH MAUI RESIDENTS ALSO REMAINED IN EFFECT. BIG ISLAND. DROUGHT IMPACTS OVER THE LEEWARD AREAS OF THE ISLAND HAVE INCREASED OVER THE PAST MONTH. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION FROM KAWAIHAE TO NORTH KONA ARE IN POOR CONDITION. GRASSES THAT SPROUTED FROM THE APRIL RAINS ARE DYING. PONOHOLO RANCH IN NORTH KOHALA REPORTED 30 TO 40 PERCENT FORAGE CONDITIONS. PASTURES IN SOUTH KAU FROM KAPAPALA TO SOUTH POINT ARE DETERIORATING QUICKLY WITH RANCHERS INDICATING 30 TO 60 PERCENT FORAGE. MANY RANCHERS HAVE ALREADY DESTOCKED CATTLE AND WATER HAULING OPERATIONS HAVE BEEN ONGOING FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...LA NINA HAS RETURNED AND IS EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY STRENGTHEN INTO THE WINTER MONTHS. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON AUGUST 18 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED THAT PROBABILITIES FAVORED BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH EARLY FALL 2011 WITH PROBABILITIES FAVORING ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IN EARLY 2012. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON SEPTEMBER 15. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR AUGUST INDICATED THAT MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS ACROSS THE STATE WERE AT NEAR NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. AVERAGE FLOW LEVELS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE NEXT MONTH. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON OCTOBER 6 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 $$