000 AXHW70 PHFO 071855 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-082200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 850 AM HST THU JUN 7 2012 ...A FAST START TO THE DRY SEASON IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS... SYNOPSIS... THE 2012 DRY SEASON HAS STARTED HARD AND FAST...ESPECIALLY IN MOST OF THE LEEWARD AREAS OF THE STATE WHERE MAY RAINFALL TOTALS CAME IN BELOW AVERAGE. AN EXISTING AREA OF EXTREME DROUGHT...OR THE D3 CATEGORY IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...SPREAD FROM THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT AND THE POHAKULOA REGION OF THE HAMAKUA DISTRICT INTO THE NORTH-FACING SLOPES OF HUALALAI IN THE NORTH KONA DISTRICT. SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CATEGORY CONDITIONS...COVERED THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN KAU AND PORTIONS OF THE HUMUULA SADDLE. IN MAUI COUNTY...EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE PERSISTED OVER WESTERN MOLOKAI AND SOUTHWEST MAUI FROM KIHEI TO MAKENA. SEVERE DROUGHT COVERED THE ISLAND OF LANAI...THE LOWER LEEWARD SLOPES OF THE WEST MAUI MOUNTAINS AND LEEWARD HALEAKALA FROM KULA TO KAUPO. KAUAI AND OAHU HAVE REMAINED DROUGHT-FREE. HOWEVER...LEEWARD AREAS WERE DRYING OUT AND VEGETATION GROWTH FROM THE WET SEASON HAS RECENTLY STARTED TO BURN IN A FEW AREAS. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. HOWEVER...AGRICULTURE IMPACTS BEYOND THE USUAL SEASONAL DRYNESS WILL BEGIN TO APPEAR IF LOWER THAN NORMAL RAINFALL PERSISTS. OAHU. THE WATER SUPPLY IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR REMAINS ABOVE PRE-DROUGHT LEVELS. ON APRIL 23...THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RESCINDED THE MANDATORY 10 PERCENT WATER USE RESTRICTION FROM THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR. A VOLUNTARY 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE HAS TAKEN ITS PLACE AS A PRECAUTION FOR THE DRY SEASON. MOLOKAI. 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 CHANGE SINCE THE MAY 3 UPDATE. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN VERY POOR. MAUI. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION IN LEEWARD MAUI REMAIN EXTREMELY DRY AND THERE IS AN INCREASING RISK FOR SIGNIFICANT BRUSH FIRES IN THE AREA. A RANCHER OPERATING NEAR KAUPO REPORTED THAT SPRINGS HAVE BEEN DRYING UP. EARLIER...AN UPCOUNTRY RANCHER INDICATED THAT OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS...POOR PASTURE CONDITIONS HAVE RESULTED IN REDUCED CATTLE WEIGHTS...POOR BREEDING RATES DUE TO A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF BREEDING COWS AND LOSSES IN THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. 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 REMAINED IN EFFECT. BIG ISLAND. 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 WERE IN VERY POOR CONDITION. THERE IS AN INCREASING RISK OF SIGNIFICANT BRUSH FIRES IN THESE AREAS. EARLIER REPORTS INDICATED THAT THERE WAS LITTLE OR NO EDIBLE FORAGE FOR LIVESTOCK. RANCHERS IN THESE AREAS HAVE ALREADY DESTOCKED CATTLE AND WATER HAULING OPERATIONS HAVE BEEN ONGOING FOR MANY MONTHS. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS HAVE ARRIVED AND WILL LIKELY REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH SUMMER 2012. IT IS TOO SOON TO TELL IF ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE REST OF THE YEAR. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON MAY 17 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED THAT PROBABILITIES DO NOT TILT IN FAVOR OF ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SUMMER 2012. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON JUNE 21. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR MAY INDICATED THAT MONITORED STREAMS ALONG THE WINDWARD SLOPES OF THE STATE WERE MOSTLY IN THE NORMAL RANGE. MOST OF THE LEEWARD SITES HAD BELOW NORMAL FLOW AVERAGES. THE ARRIVAL OF THE DRY SEASON SUGGESTS THAT AVERAGE STREAM FLOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN LOW IN THE LEEWARD AREAS THROUGH THE REST OF THE DRY SEASON. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON JULY 13 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 $$