Drought — South Hawaii Including Kau, Hawaii

1999-07-01 to 1999-07-31 · South Hawaii Including Kau, Hawaii

Wider weather episode

Trade winds once again continued unabated throughout July at mainly moderate to fresh intensities. A brief period of strong trades occurred during 26-27 July, though this did not appear to have a significant impact on rainfall statewide. July largely turned out to be a repeat of June's rainfall pattern of persistent trade wind showers over the islands of Kauai and Oahu, and drier conditions over the islands of Hawaii and Maui. The remnants of Hurricane Beatriz managed to pass over the island chain late on 19 July. However, most of the enhanced shower activity passed to the north of the state, with the islands of Hawaii and Maui getting mainly unpleasant humidity but little drought relief from the moist tropical airmass.MauiDrought-stricken areas in Upcountry Maui continued to have dry conditions throughout July. Gages at Pukalani and Kula saw less than 20 percent of average rainfall for the month. The Ulupalakua area did see some drought relief during the passage of the remnants of Hurricane Beatriz, with a gage recording 0.21 of an inch on 19 July. This rainfall helped bring the Ulupalakua total to 0.60 of an inch, or 37 percent of average. The Kihei gage reported no rainfall for the second consecutive month, and the gage at Waikapu Country Club has recorded only 0.01 of an inch in the last two months. Windward areas experienced the most rainfall as a result of their exposure to the persistent trade wind showers. Amounts received at Hana and Haiku on the slopes of Haleakala volcano were 64 and 86 percent of average, respectively. The gage at Kahakuloa recorded 2.34 inches, which was 156 percent of average.Island of HawaiiAnother dry month of the island of Hawaii, with 15 out of 19 sites reporting less than 50 percent of average rainfall. The Kau and Waikoloa areas have been especially dry this summer. Three-month (May-July) totals at Pahala, Kapapala Ranch, and Kamakoa were only 10, 12, and 16 percent of average, respectively. The Kamakoa gage in leeward Kohala has received only 1.60 inches all year to date (15 percent of average) within an area characterized as being under extreme wildfire risk. For the Hamakua and Hilo districts, 1999 started out with very wet trades. However, conditions reversed in mid-April, and these areas have been relatively dry since. The five gages in both districts show three-month totals for the period from May through July to be in the 20 to 40 percent of average range. As a result, year-to-date totals have now dropped below average. The three gages covering the Puna area have also seen less rainfall recently, but year-to-date totals remain at or above average. The gage at Kamuela Upper stands out as the lone positive anomaly with 5.49 inches during July, or 125 percent of average.The following list contains rainfall statistics for selected locations in Maui and on the island of Hawaii. The first column is the observed rainfall for July. The second column is the 30-year average for that location, while the third column lists the percent of average rainfall for the month of July. The fourth and fifth columns are the year-to-date totals and the percent of average, respectively. YTD July Avg. %Avg. YTD Avg.Maui Kahului Airport 0.03 0.4 8 6.58 51 Hana 3.61 5.6 64 N/A N/A Haiku 4.23 4.9 86 N/A N/A Kihei 0.00 0.1 0 2.13 21 Lahainaluna 0.01 0.3 3 4.12 33 Wailuku 0.26 0.6 43 7.39 42Island of Hawaii Hilo Airport 3.53 9.7 36 72.03 96 Pahala 0.04 2.1 2 12.38 37 Honaunau 2.41 7.3 33 13.71 35 Kamuela (Upper) 5.49 4.4 125 36.63 101 Glenwood 5.84 9.9 59 128.03 129 Laupahoehoe 2.52 10.0 25 64.63 69The Maui Board of Water Supply declared a drought emergency for Upcountry Maui and ordered residential customers to cut water use by 25 percent. Farmers, however, were exempted from the cutback for 60 days to give them time to harvest their crops. Governor Cayetano signed an emergency declaration for Upcountry Maui--to last for 60 days--because of the prolonged drought. By signing the declaration, the governor waived environmental and procurement regulations to allow the Board of Water Supply to tap two wells at Hamakuapoko that have pesticide contamination. The emergency water supplies from the wells will have to be passed through activated charcoal to remove the pesticides.Farmers in Upcountry Maui, though exempt from water restrictions for the time being, are taking losses from the drought nonetheless. Some are planting certain crops only every other week, instead of planting every week on different land. Others are concentrating on more valuable plants and not planting ones less valuable, such as short-term flower crops like sunflowers and gladiolus.The summer drought continued to affect the island of Hawaii, especially five rural communities. People in Kapulena and Kukuihaele in Hamakua were under a 25 percent water reduction order, while those in Keokea, Makapala, and Niulii were under a 10 percent restriction. Also, six locations on the Big Island were facing extreme fire risk--Waikoloa, Waimea, the South Kohala Coast, North Kohala, Hawaiian Ocean Estates, and Pahala.Farmers on the island of Hawaii were suffering as well. For example, MacFarms of Hawaii, a 4000-acre South Kona macadamia nut farm, has had 50 percent less rainfall in the last two years; the company had a 15 percent smaller crop this year and predicts a 30 percent loss next year, President Rick Vigden said.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5706920. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.