AXHW70 PHFO 132055 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-142200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1055 AM HST FRI JUL 13 2012 ...DROUGHT REDEVELOPS OVER KAUAI AND OAHU... SYNOPSIS... A STRONG START TO THE 2012 DRY SEASON HAS ALREADY PRODUCED NEW DROUGHT IMPACTS OVER PORTIONS OF KAUAI AND OAHU. MODERATE DROUGHT...OR THE D1 CATEGORY IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...HAS REDEVELOPED OVER THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF KAUAI AND OVER LEEWARD OAHU. DROUGHT CONDITIONS ALSO REMAIN FIRMLY IN PLACE OVER LEEWARD AREAS OF MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND. EXTREME DROUGHT...OR THE D3 CATEGORY...COVERS MOST OF THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT...THE POHAKULOA REGION OF THE HAMAKUA DISTRICT AND THE NORTH-FACING SLOPES OF HUALALAI IN THE NORTH KONA DISTRICT OF THE BIG ISLAND. MAUI COUNTY D3 CONDITIONS REMAIN OVER WESTERN MOLOKAI AND SOUTHWEST MAUI FROM KIHEI TO MAKENA. SEVERE DROUGHT...WHICH IS THE D2 CATEGORY...COVERS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF SOUTHWEST KAU AND PORTIONS OF THE HUMUULA SADDLE OF THE BIG ISLAND...ALL OF LANAI...THE LOWER LEEWARD SLOPES OF THE WEST MAUI MOUNTAINS AND THE LEEWARD SLOPES OF HALEAKALA FROM KULA TO KAUPO. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS HAVE DEGRADED PASTURES OVER SOUTHEAST KAUAI. SOME RANCHERS OPERATING IN THE KOLOA AREA HAVE STARTED TO REDUCE HERD SIZES. OAHU. LEEWARD PASTURES HAVE DETERIORATED DUE TO DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS. AS A RESULT...SOME RANCHERS HAVE DESTOCKED PASTURES IN THE WAIALUA...MAKAKILO AND PALEHUA AREAS OF THE ISLAND. THE WATER SUPPLY IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR REMAINS ABOVE PRE-DROUGHT LEVELS. ON APRIL 23...THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RESCINDED THE MANDATORY 10 PERCENT WATER USE RESTRICTION FROM THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR. A VOLUNTARY 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE IS NOW IN PLACE AS A PRECAUTION FOR THE DRY SEASON. MOLOKAI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE JUNE 7 UPDATE. THE WATER LEVEL IN THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR REMAINS VERY LOW. THUS...THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE HAS CONTINUED A MANDATORY 30 PERCENT REDUCTION IN IRRIGATION WATER CONSUMPTION. LANAI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE JUNE 7 UPDATE. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN VERY POOR. MAUI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION IN LEEWARD MAUI REMAIN EXTREMELY DRY AND THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANT BRUSH FIRES ON THE ISLAND IN THE PAST MONTH. VERY POOR FORAGE CONDITIONS HAVE FORCED SOME RANCHERS TO WEAN YOUNG CATTLE 2 TO 3 MONTHS EARLY. DESTOCKING OF PASTURES OCCURRED SEVERAL MONTHS AGO. EARLIER...A RANCHER OPERATING NEAR KAUPO REPORTED THAT SPRINGS HAVE BEEN DRYING UP. AN UPCOUNTRY RANCHER INDICATED THAT OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS...POOR PASTURE CONDITIONS HAVE RESULTED IN REDUCED CATTLE WEIGHTS...POOR BREEDING RATES DUE TO A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF BREEDING COWS AND LOSSES IN THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY HAS CONTINUED TO CALL FOR 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. A SOUTH KONA FARMER REPORTED INCREASING IRRIGATION COSTS FOR MACADAMIA NUT ORCHARDS AS WELL AS REDUCED YIELDS FROM CITRUS AND STAR FRUIT TREES. OVER SOUTH KAU...A LARGE BRUSH FIRE DAMAGED COFFEE...MACADAMIA NUT AND PASTURES. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION OVER MOST OF THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT AND PORTIONS OF THE NORTH KONA DISTRICT ALONG THE NORTH-FACING SLOPES OF HUALALAI WERE IN VERY POOR CONDITION. THERE IS A VERY HIGH RISK OF SIGNIFICANT BRUSH FIRES IN THESE AREAS. EARLIER 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 MANY MONTHS. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS ARE IN PLACE. AN EL NINO WATCH WAS ISSUED IN JUNE WHICH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR EL NINO TO DEVELOP WITHIN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON JUNE 21 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED THAT PROBABILITIES FAVOR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SUMMER 2012. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON JULY 19. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR JUNE INDICATED THAT MONITORED STREAMS ON KAUAI AND OAHU HAD FLOW AVERAGES IN THE NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL RANGE WHILE STREAMS ON MOLOKAI...MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND HAD FLOW AVERAGES IN THE NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL RANGE. NOTE THAT THERE ARE NO MONITORED STREAMS ON THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI COUNTY IN THE SIGNIFICANT DROUGHT AREAS. AVERAGE STREAM FLOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN LOW IN THE LEEWARD AREAS THROUGH THE REST OF THE DRY SEASON. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON AUGUST 9 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 $$