AXHW70 PHFO 081320 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-092200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 320 AM HST THU MAR 8 2012 ...MAUI COUNTY DROUGHT WORSENS WHILE KAUAI AND OAHU GET DRENCHED... SYNOPSIS... LATE FEBRUARY AND EARLY MARCH LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS BROUGHT TORRENTIAL RAINFALL TO THE WEST HALF OF THE STATE BUT PRODUCED MUCH LOWER AMOUNTS OVER THE DROUGHT-PLAGUED AREAS OF MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND. WESTERN MOLOKAI...WHICH HAD BEEN UNDER EXTREME DROUGHT...OR D3 CATEGORY CONDITIONS ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...WORSENED TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT...OR D4 CONDITIONS. THE EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT DESIGNATION MAY BE SHORT LIVED DEPENDING ON THE EFFECTS OF RAINFALL ON MARCH 5 AND 6. SIMILARLY...LEEWARD AREAS OF MAUI FROM LAHAINA TO KAUPO AND EXTENDING UPSLOPE INTO KULA HAVE BEEN UNDER EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS. RECENT RAINFALL SHOULD HAVE HELPED EASE DROUGHT TO SOME DEGREE THOUGH IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH. THE BIG ISLAND SHOWED A STRONG CONTRAST IN MOISTURE CONDITIONS WITH PORTIONS OF THE WINDWARD SLOPES RECEIVING EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WHILE MOST OF THE LEEWARD AREAS REMAINED DRY. EXTREME DROUGHT PERSISTED OVER THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT AND THE POHAKULOA REGION OF THE HAMAKUA DISTRICT. SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CATEGORY CONDITIONS... EXPANDED IN THE SOUTH KONA DISTRICT TO INCLUDE ALL OF THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. THE KAU DISTRICT RECEIVED SEVERAL ROUNDS OF NEEDED RAINFALL WHICH PRODUCED SOME IMPROVEMENT IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS FROM KAPAPALA TO SOUTH POINT. WATER LEVELS IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR ON OAHU HAVE RISEN A FEW FEET OVER THE PAST WEEK BUT NOT ENOUGH TO REMOVE MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS SO THE SEVERE DROUGHT CLASSIFICATION REMAINED IN PLACE. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT AS KAUAI HAS HAD EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. OAHU. A MANDATORY 10 PERCENT WATER USE RESTRICTION REMAINED IN PLACE FOR THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR. MOLOKAI. IN LATE FEBRUARY...AGRICULTURE OFFICIALS REPORTED VERY POOR PASTURE CONDITIONS IN HOOLEHUA...KUALAPUU AND MAUNALOA. WATER LEVELS IN THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR WERE EXTREMELY LOW AND THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE HAS CONTINUED A MANDATORY 30 PERCENT REDUCTION IN IRRIGATION WATER CONSUMPTION. LANAI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN VERY POOR. AXIS DEER HAVE BEEN ENCROACHING POPULATED AREAS OF THE ISLAND FOR FORAGE DUE TO POOR SUPPLIES ELSEWHERE. MAUI. PASTURES AND VEGETATION DETERIORATED DURING FEBRUARY OVER THE LEEWARD AREAS OF MAUI FROM KAUPO TO LAHAINA AND OVER THE UPCOUNTRY REGION TO KULA. SOME RANCHERS HAVE DESTOCKED PASTURES IN THESE AREAS DUE TO POOR FORAGE CONDITIONS. THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY HAS CONTINUED TO REQUEST A 5 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE FOR UPCOUNTRY RESIDENTS. THE REQUEST FOR A 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY CENTRAL AND SOUTH MAUI ALSO REMAINED IN EFFECT. BIG ISLAND. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION OVER MOST OF THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT WERE IN VERY POOR CONDITION. REPORTS INDICATED THAT THERE WAS LITTLE OR NO EDIBLE FORAGE FOR LIVESTOCK. RANCHERS IN THESE AREAS HAVE ALREADY DESTOCKED CATTLE AND WATER HAULING OPERATIONS HAVE BEEN ONGOING FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. SOME KONA COFFEE GROWERS HAVE HAD TO IRRIGATE MORE THAN NORMAL TO SUSTAIN THEIR ORCHARDS. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...LA NINA HAS PEAKED ACROSS THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC. THE FORECAST CALLS FOR LA NINA TO TRANSITION TO ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS DURING THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE SPRING. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON FEBRUARY 16 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATES THAT PROBABILITIES FAVOR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION DURING EARLY SPRING 2012. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON MARCH 15. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR FEBRUARY INDICATED THAT MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS IN MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND WERE AT NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. KAUAI AND OAHU FLOW LEVELS WERE IN THE NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL RANGE. PROBABILITIES APPEAR TO FAVOR NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL STREAM FLOW BASED ON THE CURRENT PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK. HOWEVER...THERE IS A HIGH DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY IN THIS PROJECTION. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON APRIL 5 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 $$