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AXHW70 PHFO 091921
DGTHFO
HIC001-003-007-009-102200-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
920 AM HST THU AUG 9 2012

...AGRICULTURAL DROUGHT WORSENING ON KAUAI...


SYNOPSIS...

DRY JULY WEATHER WORSENED EXISTING DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS OF EAST AND SOUTHEAST KAUAI.  AS A RESULT...MODERATE
DROUGHT...OR THE D1 CATEGORY IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...WAS
DOWNGRADED TO SEVERE DROUGHT...OR THE D2 CATEGORY...FROM KEALIA TO
KOLOA.

ADDITIONAL AREAS OF SEVERE DROUGHT ACROSS THE STATE INCLUDE THE
LOWER ELEVATIONS OF SOUTHWEST KAU AND PORTIONS OF THE HUMUULA
SADDLE ON 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.

THE AREA OF EXTREME DROUGHT...OR THE D3 CATEGORY...REMAINS
UNCHANGED OVER LEEWARD AREAS OF MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND. IN
MAUI COUNTY...THESE AREAS INCLUDE WESTERN MOLOKAI AND SOUTHWEST MAUI
FROM KIHEI TO MAKENA. BIG ISLAND EXTREME DROUGHT 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.

MODERATE DROUGHT REMAINS UNCHANGED IN LEEWARD OAHU.

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

KAUAI.
OVER THE PAST MONTH...MORE PASTURES DEGRADED TO THE POINT WHERE
RANCHERS HAVE HAD TO REDUCE HERD SIZES.  PASTURES NEAR KOLOA AND
MAHAULEPU REMAIN IN POOR CONDITION.  MORE RECENT REPORTS INDICATED
IMPACTS TO PASTURES NEAR KEALIA AND KALEPA.

OAHU.
NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE JULY 13 UPDATE.  LEEWARD PASTURES
REMAIN IN POOR CONDITION DUE TO DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS.
REPORTS FROM EARLIER IN THE SUMMER INDICATED THAT SOME RANCHERS
DESTOCKED PASTURES IN THE WAIALUA...MAKAKILO AND PALEHUA AREAS OF
THE ISLAND.

THE WATER SUPPLY IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR REMAINS ABOVE
PRE-DROUGHT LEVELS. A VOLUNTARY 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE
REMAINS IN PLACE AS A PRECAUTION FOR THE DRY SEASON.

MOLOKAI.
PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS REMAIN VERY POOR WEST OF
KAUNAKAKAI. THE DRY CONDITIONS HAVE RESULTED IN AN INCREASE IN AXIS
DEER ENCROACHMENTS AND CROP DAMAGE AS THEY SEEK FOOD AND WATER.

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 JULY 13 UPDATE.  PASTURES AND
GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN VERY POOR.

MAUI.
NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE JULY 13 UPDATE.  PASTURES AND
GENERAL VEGETATION IN LEEWARD MAUI REMAIN EXTREMELY DRY.  PASTURES
WERE DESTOCKED SEVERAL MONTHS AGO.  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 REMAINS IN
EFFECT.

BIG ISLAND.
RANCHERS OPERATING NEAR SOUTH POINT REPORTED THAT PASTURES HAVE
DRIED OUT AND THEY HAVE BEEN SUPPLEMENTING FEED. ON THE NORTH SIDE
OF THE ISLAND...A RANCHER NEAR WAIMEA REPORTED INSUFFICIENT FORAGE
FOR HIS CATTLE AND HE HAS BEEN HAULING 5000 GALLONS OF WATER EACH
WEEK. 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 HAVE BEEN VERY DRY.

CLIMATE SUMMARY...
ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...ENSO-NEUTRAL
CONDITIONS ARE IN PLACE.  AN EL NINO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT...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 JULY 19 BY THE NOAA
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED THAT PROBABILITIES FAVOR BELOW
NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SUMMER AND FALL 2012.  THE NEXT
LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON
AUGUST 16.

HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY INDICATED THAT MONITORED STREAMS FROM OAHU TO
THE BIG ISLAND HAD FLOW AVERAGES FOR JULY IN THE NORMAL TO ABOVE
NORMAL RANGE WHILE STREAMS ON KAUAI WERE MOSTLY IN THE BELOW 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 AND POSSIBLY THE START OF THE NEXT WET SEASON BASED
ON THE LATEST PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK.

NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 6
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

$$