000 AXHW70 PHFO 061911 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-072200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 915 AM HST THU SEP 6 2012 ...LEEWARD DROUGHT WORSENS ON KAUAI AND LANAI... SYNOPSIS... PERSISTENT AND STABLE TRADE WIND CONDITIONS KEPT MOST OF THE LEEWARD AREAS VERY DRY THROUGHOUT AUGUST. THE SUSTAINED DRYNESS ON THE ISLAND OF LANAI RESULTED IN A DOWNGRADE FROM SEVERE DROUGHT...OR THE D2 CATEGORY IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...TO EXTREME DROUGHT...OR THE D3 CATEGORY...OVER THE LEEWARD SLOPES OF THE ISLAND. SEVERE DROUGHT ON KAUAI HAS ALSO SPREAD WESTWARD ALONG THE LOWER LEEWARD ELEVATIONS AND NOW COVERS THE ISLAND FROM KEALIA TO KOLOA...THEN WESTWARD TO WAIMEA. ELSEWHERE IN THE STATE...THE AREA OF EXTREME DROUGHT REMAINS UNCHANGED OVER LEEWARD AREAS OF MOLOKAI...MAUI 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. SEVERE DROUGHT CONTINUES OVER THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF SOUTHWEST KAU AND PORTIONS OF THE HUMUULA SADDLE ON THE BIG ISLAND...THE LOWER LEEWARD SLOPES OF THE WEST MAUI MOUNTAINS AND THE LEEWARD SLOPES OF HALEAKALA FROM KULA TO KAUPO. THE AREA OF MODERATE DROUGHT...OR D1 CONDITIONS...REMAINS UNCHANGED IN LEEWARD OAHU. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. THE AREA OF DROUGHT IMPACTS HAS BEEN SPREADING WESTWARD. RECENT REPORTS INDICATED POOR PASTURE CONDITIONS IN THE AREA FROM KALAHEO TO HANAPEPE. OTHER AREAS WITH POOR PASTURE CONDITIONS INCLUDE THE REGION FROM KOLOA TO MAHAULEPU...AND FROM KEALIA TO KALEPA. OAHU. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE AUGUST 9 UPDATE. LEEWARD PASTURES REMAIN IN POOR CONDITION AND THE GENERAL LANDSCAPE IS VISIBLY VERY DRY. 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. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE AUGUST 9 UPDATE. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS REMAIN VERY POOR WEST OF KAUNAKAKAI. AN EARLIER REPORT INDICATED THAT 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. A REPORT FROM THE ISLAND INDICATED THAT EVEN DROUGHT-RESISTANT PLANTS AND TREES SUCH AS KIAWE WERE STRUGGLING UNDER THE DRY CONDITIONS. MOUFLON SHEEP...AXIS DEER AND GAME BIRD POPULATIONS HAVE BEEN REDUCED. THE GREATEST IMPACTS HAVE BEEN ALONG THE LOWER AND MIDDLE ELEVATIONS ON THE LEEWARD SIDE OF THE ISLAND AND ARE AS BAD AS BACK IN 2010. MAUI. UPCOUNTRY AGRICULTURE CONTINUES TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY THE ONGOING DROUGHT. MEDIA REPORTS INDICATED THAT RANCHERS HAVE HAD TO INCREASE IRRIGATION...SUPPLEMENT FEED AND REDUCE HERD SIZES. ENCROACHING AXIS DEER HAVE ALSO DECREASED FORAGE FOR LIVESTOCK. BRUSH FIRE RISK...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE SOUTHWEST SLOPES OF HALEAKALA...IS EXTREMELY HIGH. THE MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY HAS CONTINUED THE ONGOING 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. LEEWARD KOHALA COASTAL PASTURES HAVE BEEN WITHOUT FORAGE FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. RANCHERS NEAR SOUTH POINT HAVE ALSO REPORTED VERY POOR FORAGE CONDITIONS UP TO ABOUT THE 500 FT ELEVATION LEVEL. REQUESTS FOR FEED ASSISTANCE HAVE BEEN COMING IN FROM THE PUUKAPU...SOUTH KOHALA...NAALEHU AND PAHALA AREAS. A PROTEA FARMER IN THE OCEAN VIEW ESTATES AREA REPORTED HAVING TO HAUL 20000 GALLONS OF WATER FOR OPERATIONS. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS REMAIN 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 AUGUST 16 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATES THAT PROBABILITIES FAVOR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE REST OF THE YEAR AND INTO EARLY 2013. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON SEPTEMBER 20. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... DATA FROM THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SHOW THAT MONITORED STREAMS ACROSS THE STATE HAD FLOW AVERAGES IN THE NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL RANGE. ALAKAHI STREAM IN THE WINDWARD KOHALA AREA OF THE BIG ISLAND WAS THE ONLY STREAM WITH AN ABOVE NORMAL FLOW AVERAGE. 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 OCTOBER 4 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 HAWAII DROUGHT IMPACT REPORTER...HAWAII.DROUGHTREPORTER.UNL.EDU/ 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 $$ pFad - Phonifier reborn

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