000 AXHW70 PHFO 062056 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-072200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1055 AM HST THU NOV 6 2008 ...WET SEASON STARTS BUT DROUGHT CONTINUES... SYNOPSIS... OCTOBER MARKED THE START OF THE WET SEASON IN HAWAII AND WHILE THE STATE RECEIVED SOME NEEDED RAINFALL...DROUGHT CONTINUES TO AFFECT MANY AREAS OF THE ISLAND CHAIN. THE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL COMBINED WITH THE SEASONALLY COOLER TEMPERATURES HELPED STABILIZE THE DROUGHT PICTURE AND HELPED PREVENT THE EXPANSION OR WORSENING OF EXISTING DROUGHT AREAS. THUS...THE CONDITIONS DEPICTED ON THE LATEST U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP HAVE REMAINED UNCHANGED OVER THE PAST MONTH. HOWEVER...THIS ALSO MEANS THAT OVER 75 PERCENT OF THE STATE REMAINS UNDER MODERATE DROUGHT...D1 CATEGORY IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...OR WORSE WITH EVERY COUNTY FEELING SOME LEVEL OF DROUGHT IMPACTS. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. NO CHANGES SINCE OCTOBER 9. PASTURES HAVE BEEN SEVERELY IMPACTED BY THE DROUGHT OVER THE WINDWARD SECTIONS OF THE ISLAND. THE RESULTING LOSS OF FORAGE HAS FORCED RANCHERS TO REDUCE CATTLE STOCKING RATES BY OVER 50 PERCENT IN SOME AREAS. WHILE SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL HAS OCCURRED RECENTLY OVER EAST KAUAI...THE BENEFICIAL IMPACTS HAVE NOT YET TAKEN HOLD TO INDICATE ANY LEVEL OF IMPROVEMENT. OAHU. NO CHANGES SINCE OCTOBER 9. USERS OF IRRIGATION WATER FROM THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR REMAIN UNDER A MANDATORY 30 PERCENT REDUCTION IN CONSUMPTION DUE TO VERY LOW WATER LEVELS. THE WINDWARD AREAS OF THE KOOLAU RANGE REMAIN UNDER A REQUEST FOR A VOLUNTARY 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN PUBLIC WATER USE. MOLOKAI. NO CHANGES SINCE OCTOBER 9. USERS OF IRRIGATION WATER FROM THE KUALAPUU RESERVOIR IN WEST MOLOKAI REMAIN UNDER A MANDATORY 20 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE. NON-IRRIGATED PASTURE CONDITIONS IN THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE ISLAND ARE ALSO VERY POOR. LANAI. NO CHANGES SINCE OCTOBER 9. PASTURE CONDITIONS REMAIN POOR ON THE ENTIRE ISLAND. MAUI. NO CHANGES SINCE OCTOBER 9. UPCOUNTRY MAUI REMAINS UNDER A MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY REQUEST FOR A 5 PERCENT REDUCTION IN PUBLIC WATER USE. A VOLUNTARY 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL MAUI RESIDENTS. PASTURE CONDITIONS ARE VERY POOR ACROSS CENTRAL MAUI. BIG ISLAND. HAWAII COUNTY WATER OFFICIALS HAVE REQUESTED A 10 PERCENT VOLUNTARY REDUCTION IN WATER USE FOR THE PAPAIKOU AREA OF THE SOUTH HILO DISTRICT. SIGNIFICANT DROUGHT IMPACTS TO THE RANCHING INDUSTRY CONTINUE ON THE BIG ISLAND...ESPECIALLY IN THE LEEWARD KOHALA...UPPER HAMAKUA AND NORTH KONA AREAS. SOME RANCHERS HAVE REPORTED LIVESTOCK DEATHS...SEVERE FORAGE LOSS AND A REDUCTION OF CATTLE STOCKING RATES BY 50 PERCENT OR MORE. BRUSH FIRE DANGER IS HIGH TO EXTREME IN THESE AREAS. THE KAU DISTRICT AND PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH KOHALA AND HAMAKUA DISTRICTS REMAIN UNDER A 10 PERCENT VOLUNTARY REDUCTION IN DAILY WATER USE. WATER CATCHMENT SUPPLIES FOR RESIDENTIAL USE ARE ALSO BEING IMPACTED BY THE REDUCED DAILY RAINFALL. CLIMATE SUMMARY... ACCORDING TO THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...ENSO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS EXIST IN THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC AND SHOULD PERSIST INTO EARLY 2009. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN OUTLOOK ISSUED ON OCTOBER 16 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER DID NOT INDICATE ANY PROBABILITIES FAVORING ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF 2008. HOWEVER...THE FORECAST DOES ANTICIPATE ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION FROM JANUARY THROUGH MAY 2009. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED ON NOVEMBER 20. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DATA INDICATE STREAMFLOW CONTINUING AT BELOW NORMAL LEVELS ACROSS THE STATE. SINCE ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL IS NOT ANTICIPATED UNTIL EARLY 2009...THE PROBABILITY OF SUBSTANTIAL STREAMFLOW RECOVERY DURING THE REST OF 2008 IS LOW. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON DECEMBER 4 2008 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... WWW.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 $$