Drought — Big Island Interior, Hawaii

2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Big Island Interior, Hawaii

Event narrative

Poor range conditions persisted across the Big Island, with supplemental feeding required and persistent water shortages, especially in Hamakua and Kau Districts. Ranchers weaned cattle early and destocked cows due to lack of available pasture feed, as well as hauled water and moved cattle to Kona District for better grazing conditions. Many reports cited not seeing conditions like this since 2008.

Wider weather episode

Months of below average rainfall have led to continuing extreme drought conditions over portions of the Big Island. Particularly the upper Hamakua coast and southeast portions of the Big Island experienced the worst drought conditions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1293590. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.