AXHW70 PHFO 081935 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-092200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 930 AM HST THU DEC 8 2011 ...LEEWARD BIG ISLAND DROUGHT WORSENS... SYNOPSIS... PERSISTENT TRADE WIND CONDITIONS DURING NOVEMBER HELPED BRING NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL TOTALS TO MANY OF THE WINDWARD SLOPES OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. HOWEVER...THE PERSISTENT TRADES MEANT LITTLE RAINFALL OCCURRED OVER LEEWARD AREAS. ON THE BIG ISLAND... EXTREME DROUGHT...OR D3 CATEGORY CONDITIONS ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...IN THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT AND LEEWARD NORTH KOHALA DISTRICT SPREAD INTO THE POHAKULOA REGION OF THE HAMAKUA DISTRICT. EXTREME DROUGHT ALSO CONTINUED OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE KAU DISTRICT. SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CATEGORY CONDITIONS...REMAINED OVER MOST OF THE NORTH KONA DISTRICT AND OVER THE MID-SECTION OF THE BIG ISLAND FROM POHAKULOA TO KAU. WET WINDWARD CONDITIONS RESULTED IN A RETREAT OF MODERATE DROUGHT...OR D1 CATEGORY CONDITIONS...AWAY FROM THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI...EARLY NOVEMBER RAINFALL PROVIDED SOME DROUGHT RELIEF TO THE SOUTHEAST SLOPES OF HALEAKALA FROM KEPUNI TO KAUPO. HOWEVER...EXTREME DROUGHT CONTINUED ALONG THE SOUTHWEST HALEAKALA SLOPES FROM KAMAOLE TO ULUPALAKUA. ELSEWHERE IN MAUI COUNTY...SEVERE DROUGHT PERSISTED OVER THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF WEST MAUI FROM MAALAEA THROUGH LAHAINA AND OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF MOLOKAI. HEAVY RAINFALL DURING THE FIRST HALF OF NOVEMBER BROUGHT SOME DROUGHT RELIEF TO KAUAI WHICH WENT FROM SEVERE DROUGHT TO MODERATE DROUGHT OVER THE KALEPA AREA NEAR LIHUE. THE DROUGHT CLASSIFICATION IN EAST OAHU WORSENED TO THE SEVERE CATEGORY DUE TO DIMINISHING WATER LEVELS IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR. WEST OAHU STAYED IN THE MODERATE DROUGHT CATEGORY. SEVERE DROUGHT HAS AFFECTED PORTIONS OF THE STATE OF HAWAII CONTINUOUSLY SINCE JUNE 2008. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. NOVEMBER RAINFALL HELPED IMPROVE PASTURE CONDITIONS IN EAST KAUAI. OAHU. THE WATER LEVEL IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR CONTINUES TO DECREASE AND HAS DROPPED OVER 40 FEET SINCE MID-MAY. THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IMPLEMENTED STRICTER CONSERVATION MEASURES ON NOVEMBER 18 AND SET A MANDATORY 20 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER USE. MOLOKAI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE NOVEMBER 3 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. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE NOVEMBER 3 UPDATE. NO ADDITIONAL IMPACT INFORMATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED. MAUI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION REMAINED DRY OVER THE LEEWARD SLOPES OF HALEAKALA ESPECIALLY FROM KAMAOLE TO ULUPALAKUA. WATER SUPPLY LEVELS FOR UPCOUNTRY MAUI HAVE IMPROVED SINCE OCTOBER DUE TO AN INCREASE IN WINDWARD HALEAKALA RAINFALL. HOWEVER...THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY HAS MAINTAINED 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. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION FROM KAWAIHAE TO NORTH KONA AND FROM SOUTH POINT TO PAHALA ARE IN VERY POOR CONDITION AND BRUSH FIRES CONTINUE TO BE A SIGNIFICANT CONCERN. MANY RANCHERS HAVE ALREADY DESTOCKED CATTLE AND WATER HAULING OPERATIONS HAVE BEEN ONGOING FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. A RANCHER RECENTLY REPORTED HAVING TO SELL REPLACEMENT HEIFERS WHICH WILL RESULT IN A LONG-TERM IMPACT. IN SEPTEMBER THE USDA FARM SERVICE AGENCY REPORTED THAT VARIOUS AREAS OF THE ISLAND HAD 30 TO 100 PERCENT LOSS OF FORAGE FOR LIVESTOCK. COUPLED WITH HIGHER FEED PRICES...THE IMPACT ON RANCHING OPERATIONS HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT. IN THE SOUTH KONA DISTRICT, YIELDS FOR A WIDE RANGE OF FRUIT HAVE DECREASED DUE TO ONGOING DROUGHT CONDITIONS. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...LA NINA CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT ACROSS THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC. LA NINA IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE WINTER OF 2011-2012. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON NOVEMBER 17 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED THAT PROBABILITIES FAVORED ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION DURING EARLY 2012 AS PART OF A FORECASTED MATURE PHASE OF LA NINA. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON DECEMBER 15. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR NOVEMBER INDICATED THAT MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS ACROSS THE STATE WERE AT NEAR NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. AVERAGE FLOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO RISE WITH A SEASONAL INCREASE IN RAINFALL OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON JANUARY 6 2012 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 $$