000 AXHW70 PHFO 032359 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-042200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1253 PM HST THU MAR 3 2011 ...DROUGHT RETURNS TO THE EAST SIDE OF THE BIG ISLAND... SYNOPSIS... FEBRUARY WEATHER SYSTEMS BROUGHT PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL TO THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FROM KAUAI TO MAUI. HOWEVER...THESE SYSTEMS WEAKENED OR MOVED AWAY FROM THE STATE BEFORE REACHING THE BIG ISLAND. AS A RESULT...MODERATE DROUGHT...OR D1 CATEGORY CONDITIONS IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...RECENTLY RETURNED TO THE BIG ISLAND/S EASTERN SLOPES AND MERGED WITH THE EXISTING MODERATE DROUGHT AREA EXTENDING FROM SOUTH POINT TO LEEWARD KOHALA. EXTREME DROUGHT...OR D3 CONDITIONS...PERSISTED IN THE POHAKULOA AREA. CONDITIONS IMPROVED ENOUGH OVER LEEWARD MAUI TO WARRANT A REDUCTION OF SEVERE DROUGHT COVERAGE. SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CATEGORY...IS NOW LIMITED TO THE AREA NEAR KIHEI FROM KAONOULU TO KAMAOLE. IMPROVEMENTS WERE ALSO REPORTED ON LANAI WHICH RESULTED IN A CHANGE FROM A D2 TO D1 DEPICTION OVER THE ENTIRE ISLAND. THE DROUGHT STATUS FOR MOLOKAI REMAINED UNCHANGED OVER THE PAST MONTH. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. OAHU. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. WATER LEVELS IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR CONTINUED TO INCREASE OVER THE PAST MONTH. HOWEVER...THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MAINTAINED A 10 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER USE AS A PRECAUTION. MOLOKAI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE FEBRUARY 3. WATER LEVELS IN THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR REMAINED RELATIVELY STEADY DURING THE PAST MONTH. THUS...THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE HAS KEPT IN PLACE THE MANDATORY 30 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER CONSUMPTION. LANAI. VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE IMPROVED. HUNTERS HAVE ALSO REPORTED SUFFICIENT FORAGE FOR GAME ANIMALS ON THE ISLAND. MAUI. PASTURE CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN IMPROVING OVER THE PAST MONTH. THE AREA FROM KAONOULU TO KAMAOLE NEAR KIHEI HAS NOT RECOVERED ENOUGH TO FULLY SUPPORT CATTLE RANCHING OPERATIONS. 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. DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE WINDWARD AREAS HAVE STARTED TO PRODUCE IMPACTS. SOME FARMERS REPORTED REDUCED CORN, TARO, AND SWEET POTATO YIELDS DUE TO LACK OF RAINFALL. RANCHERS HAVE BEEN HAULING WATER TO SUPPORT LIVESTOCK. PASTURES IN AREAS THAT RECOVERED FROM PREVIOUS DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE STARTING TO DETERIORATE AGAIN. SOME OF THE WINDWARD AREA RESIDENTS ON CATCHMENT SYSTEMS HAVE STARTED TO HIRE WATER HAULING SERVICES DUE TO BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...MATURE LA NINA CONDITIONS ARE IN PLACE. LA NINA IS AN ANOMALOUS COOLING OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE EQUATORIAL REGION OF THE PACIFIC. ENSO-NEUTRAL OR LA NINA CONDITIONS ARE EQUALLY LIKELY DURING MAY-JUNE 2011. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON FEBRUARY 17 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED THAT PROBABILITIES FAVORED ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SPRING 2011. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON MARCH 17. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR FEBRUARY INDICATED THAT MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS ON KAUAI AND OAHU WERE AT NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. HOWEVER...MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS ON MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND WERE AT BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. AVERAGE FLOW LEVELS ON KAUAI...OAHU AND MAUI ARE EXPECTED TO BE WITHIN THE NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL RANGE THROUGH SPRING 2011 BASED ON THE OUTLOOK OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. MAUI COUNTY AND BIG ISLAND STREAM FLOW LEVELS SHOULD INCREASE BASED ON THE PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON APRIL 7 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 $$