000 AXHW70 PHFO 082039 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-092200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1030 AM HST THU JUL 8 2010 ...EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT AREA INCREASES ON THE BIG ISLAND... SYNOPSIS... VERY DRY WEATHER CONTINUED ACROSS THE LEEWARD SECTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND RESULTING IN AN EXPANSION OF EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS...OR D4 CATEGORY ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...TO INCLUDE THE SOUTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE KAU DISTRICT. THE EXISTING AREA OF EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT IN THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT REMAINED UNCHANGED AND HAS NOW BEEN IN PLACE FOR FOUR CONSECUTIVE MONTHS. EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS...OR D3 CATEGORY...ALSO REMAINED IN PLACE OVER MOST OF THE REMAINING AREAS IN THE KAU DISTRICT AND THE NORTH AND SOUTH KONA DISTRICTS. IN MAUI COUNTY...THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF MOLOKAI AND THE LOWER LEEWARD ELEVATIONS OF THE ISLAND OF MAUI REMAINED UNDER EXTREME DROUGHT. SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS...OR D2 CATEGORY...CONTINUED UNABATED OVER THE ISLAND OF LANAI AND THE UPCOUNTRY REGION OF MAUI. THE EASTERN END OF OAHU STAYED UNDER AN EXTREME DROUGHT CLASSIFICATION MAINLY DUE TO VERY LOW WATER LEVELS IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR AND SEVERAL MONTHS LOW RAINFALL TOTALS. THE REST OF OAHU HAS MANAGED TO AVOID SIGNIFICANT DROUGHT IMPACTS. KAUAI REMAINED UNDER MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS...OR D1 CATEGORY...OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE ISLAND. THE LAST TIME THE STATE OF HAWAII WAS CONSIDERED TO BE DROUGHT-FREE WAS APRIL 15 2008. SINCE THEN...VARIOUS AREAS OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS HAVE BEEN UNDER AT LEAST MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS. THE ONGOING EPISODE OF EXTREME DROUGHT HAS EXCEEDED ONE YEAR IN DURATION. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE MAINLY AFFECTED THE LIVESTOCK SECTOR DUE TO DEGRADED PASTURE CONDITIONS ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE ISLAND INCLUDING LOCATIONS SUCH AS KOLOA AND MAHAULEPU. OAHU. A MANDATORY 30 PERCENT CUTBACK IN IRRIGATION WATER USE AND A REDUCTION IN SERVICE HOURS REMAINED IN PLACE FOR THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR. VEGETATION OVER EAST OAHU HAS BEEN VERY DRY AS EVIDENCED BY THE RECENT KAMEHAME RIDGE-KALAMA VALLEY BRUSH FIRE. MOLOKAI. NO CHANGES SINCE JUNE 3. PASTURE AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS REMAINED POOR OVER THE WESTERN TWO-THIRDS OF THE ISLAND. WATER LEVELS WITHIN THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR IN WEST MOLOKAI REMAINED LOW AND STATE AGRICULTURE OFFICIALS CONTINUED TO ENFORCE A MANDATORY 20 PERCENT REDUCTION IN IRRIGATION WATER USE. LANAI. NO CHANGES SINCE JUNE 3. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS REMAINED IN A DEGRADED STATE. MAUI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS REMAINED POOR. A DECREASE IN DITCH-TRANSPORTED WATER SUPPLIES FROM WINDWARD STREAMS HAS AFFECTED PUBLIC WATER PRODUCTION AND WATER QUALITY. THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY CONTINUED TO REQUEST A 5 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY UPCOUNTRY RESIDENTS...AND A 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE BY CENTRAL AND SOUTH MAUI RESIDENTS. BIG ISLAND. CONDITIONS REMAINED VERY POOR IN GENERAL ALONG THE LEEWARD AREAS OF THE ISLAND. RAINFALL TOTALS FOR 2010 THROUGH THE END OF JUNE INDICATED THAT KAPAPALA RANCH IN THE KAU DISTRICT WAS ON PACE TO HAVE ITS DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD. ONE KAU FARMER REPORTED LOSING HIS PINEAPPLE CROP AND A PAHALA MACADAMIA NUT FARMER REPORTED HAVING TO USE HEAVY IRRIGATION TO SUSTAIN THE ORCHARD. RANCHERS IN THE LOWER KAU AND LEEWARD KOHALA SLOPES CONTINUED TO OPERATE UNDER VERY POOR CONDITIONS FOR LIVESTOCK. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SUPPLEMENTAL FEED HAVE BEEN REQUIRED AS PASTURES HAVE BEEN INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE HERDS. OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS...THE ONGOING DROUGHT HAS SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED A WIDE RANGE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS INCLUDING COFFEE...AVOCADOS...RAMBUTAN...BANANAS... MACADAMIA NUTS...LOQUAT AND JABOTICABA. ONLY DROUGHT-RESISTANT TREES AND CROPS HAVE MANAGED TO PRODUCE WELL. MANY AREAS OF THE WESTERN AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND ALSO REMAINED VULNERABLE TO BRUSH FIRES. RESIDENTS DEPENDENT ON RAINWATER CATCHMENT HAVE BEEN USING COSTLY WATER HAULING SERVICES TO SATISFY BASIC NEEDS. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC HAS REACHED AN ENSO-NEUTRAL STATE. HOWEVER...SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES HAVE BECOME MORE NEGATIVE OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS AND CONDITIONS WERE FAVORABLE FOR A TRANSITION TO LA NINA DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS. LA NINA IS AN ANOMALOUS COOLING OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE EQUATORIAL REGION OF THE PACIFIC. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON JUNE 17 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED PROBABILITIES FAVORING BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SUMMER AND INTO EARLY FALL 2010. IN PREVIOUS SUMMERS...BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL ALONG THE WINDWARD SLOPES MANIFESTED ITSELF AS A DECREASE IN RAINFALL PER DAY WHILE THE NUMBER OF RAIN-DAYS PER MONTH REMAINED NEAR NORMAL. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED ON JULY 15. SINCE THIS IS THE HEART OF THE DRY/WARM SEASON...NO NEAR-TERM DROUGHT RELIEF IS EXPECTED FOR THE LEEWARD AREAS OF THE STATE. THE MAIN EXCEPTION IS THE MIDDLE AND UPPER KONA SLOPES. THIS IS THE ONLY LEEWARD AREA IN THE STATE WHICH HAS A SUMMER MAXIMUM IN RAINFALL. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 28-DAY AVERAGES INDICATED THAT MOST OF THE MONITORED STREAMS IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WERE AT NEAR TO BELOW NORMAL FLOW LEVELS. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WAS THE SOUTH FORK OF WAILUA RIVER ON KAUAI WHICH WAS IN THE ABOVE NORMAL CATEGORY. AS THE DRY SEASON CONTINUES...MORE SITES ARE EXPECTED TO DROP INTO THE BELOW NORMAL RANGE...ESPECIALLY IN THE LEEWARD AREAS OF THE STATE. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON AUGUST 5 2010 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 $$