000 AXHW70 PHFO 071913 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-082200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 905 AM HST THU APR 7 2011 ...TRADE WIND SHOWERS DURING MARCH REMOVE WINDWARD BIG ISLAND DROUGHT... SYNOPSIS... FREQUENT TRADE WIND SHOWERS...ESPECIALLY DURING THE LATTER HALF OF MARCH...ELIMINATED MODERATE DROUGHT...OR D1 CATEGORY CONDITIONS IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP OVER THE WINDWARD SLOPES OF THE BIG ISLAND. HOWEVER...MOST OF THE EXISTING LEEWARD DROUGHT AREAS RECEIVED VERY LITTLE RAINFALL DURING MARCH. THUS...A SMALL POCKET OF EXTREME DROUGHT...OR D3 CONDITIONS...REMAINS IN THE POHAKULOA AREA OF THE BIG ISLAND WITH A SURROUNDING AREA OF SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CONDITIONS...EXTENDING TO WAIKOLOA AND OVER THE NORTH-FACING SLOPE OF MAUNA LOA. MODERATE DROUGHT ALSO CONTINUES OVER LEEWARD KOHALA...THE KAU DISTRICT AND PORTIONS OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH KONA DISTRICTS. IT IS TOO EARLY TELL HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT THE CURRENT RAIN EVENT WILL HAVE ON DROUGHT CONDITIONS THOUGH IT WOULD APPEAR THAT SOME LEVEL OF IMPROVEMENT SHOULD OCCUR. IN MAUI COUNTY...SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN WESTERN MOLOKAI EASED TO MODERATE LEVELS IN EARLY MARCH. HOWEVER...SEVERE DROUGHT PERSISTS OVER A SMALL AREA NEAR KIHEI FROM KAONOULU TO KAMAOLE. MODERATE DROUGHT ALSO CONTINUES TO AFFECT LEEWARD WEST MAUI. KAUAI AND OAHU REMAIN IN GOOD CONDITION WITH NO AREAS OF DROUGHT DEPICTED IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. OAHU. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. WATER SUPPLY IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR IS WELL ABOVE DROUGHT LEVEL. HOWEVER...THE STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IS MAINTAINING A 10 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER USE AS A PRECAUTION HEADING INTO THE DRY SEASON. MOLOKAI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE IMPROVED SINCE FEBRUARY. WATER LEVELS IN THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR REMAINED STEADY OVERALL 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. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE MARCH 3 UPDATE. MAUI. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE MARCH 3 UPDATE. 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. EXCLUDING RAINFALL FROM YESTERDAY...LEEWARD AREAS OF THE ISLAND HAVE NOT RECEIVED SUFFICIENT AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS. AS A RESULT...PASTURES IN THE PUUKAPU AND WAIMEA AREAS HAVE BEEN DETERIORATING. IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN OVER THE COMING WEEKS HOW MUCH IMPROVEMENT THE RECENT RAINFALL WILL PRODUCE ON PASTURE CONDITIONS. RANCHERS IN THE EXISTING DROUGHT AREAS HAVE BEEN HAULING WATER TO SUPPORT LIVESTOCK. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...LA NINA IS WEAKENING. LA NINA IS AN ANOMALOUS COOLING OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE EQUATORIAL REGION OF THE PACIFIC. ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED BY JUNE 2011. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON MARCH 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 APRIL 21. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR MARCH INDICATED THAT ALL OF THE MONITORED STREAMS ON KAUAI AND OAHU WERE AT NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. HOWEVER...MONITORED STREAMS IN MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND WERE AT NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. AVERAGE FLOW LEVELS ACROSS THE STATE ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE OVERALL AS THE WET SEASON DRAWS TO A CLOSE. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON MAY 5 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 $$