Drought in Island of Hawaii, Hawaii

The trade winds remained in place over the Hawaiian Islands for almost the entire month of October. However, an upper level low and associated trough moved over the island chain from the east and destabilized the air mass during the period 12-17 October. This caused heavy showers to develop, mainly over the island of Hawaii and, to a lesser extent, Maui. The rest of the state, though, did not receive any enhanced showers from this upper low.October is considered a transition month between the warm and cool seasons. The first shear line, or cold front, passage of the cool season usually occurs during the latter half of October. These types of systems sometimes produce heavy rainfall over the state and are important sources of precipitation for the leeward sections of the isles. No shear lines, however, were able to push far enough south to reach the Hawaiian Islands during this past October.Below are rainfall statistics for selected locations from around the state. The first column is the rainfall for the month of October. The second has the 30-year average for each location, while the third column is the percent of average rainfall for the month of October. October 98 Avg. %Avg.Oahu Honolulu 0.13 2.3 6 Manoa Arbor. 10.53 11.0 96 Hawaii Kai 0.79 2.7 29 Ahuimanu 4.19 8.4 50 Waianae M 0.3 M Waialua 0.36 2.7 13Maui Kahului 0.10 1.2 8 Hana 4.29 7.0 61 Kihei 0.05 0.7 7 Lahainaluna 0.13 1.0 13 Wailuku 0.17 1.7 10Island of Hawaii Hilo 16.01 9.6 167 Pahala 1.40 4.2 33 Honaunau (Capt. Cook) 2.72 5.2 52 Kamuela (Upper) 6.76 3.7 183 Kamuela 3.48 3.3 105 Laupahoehoe 14.63 9.3 157Molokai Kaunakakai 0.38 1.0 38