AXHW70 PHFO 031859 DGTHFO HIC001-003-007-009-042200- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 845 AM HST THU MAY 3 2012 ...ANOTHER WET SEASON GONE AND THE DROUGHT CONTINUES IN LEEWARD MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND... SYNOPSIS... LOWER THAN NORMAL RAINFALL IN APRIL KEPT DROUGHT FIRMLY IN PLACE OVER LEEWARD AREAS OF MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND. IN MAUI COUNTY...EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS...OR THE D3 CATEGORY IN THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP...CONTINUED OVER WESTERN MOLOKAI AND SOUTHWEST MAUI FROM KIHEI TO MAKENA. SEVERE DROUGHT...OR D2 CATEGORY CONDITIONS...COVERED THE ISLAND OF LANAI...THE LOWER LEEWARD SLOPES OF THE WEST MAUI MOUNTAINS AND LEEWARD HALEAKALA FROM KULA TO KAUPO. ON THE BIG ISLAND...EXTREME DROUGHT CONTINUED TO COVER PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT AND THE POHAKULOA REGION OF THE HAMAKUA DISTRICT. SEVERE DROUGHT MAINTAINED ITS PRESENCE OVER THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH KONA DISTRICTS AND THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE KAU DISTRICT. KAUAI...OAHU AND WINDWARD SECTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI WERE DROUGHT-FREE. THE END OF APRIL MARKED THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR WITH DROUGHT PERSISTENCE THROUGH THE WET SEASON WITHIN THE STATE OF HAWAII. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... KAUAI. THERE WERE NO DROUGHT IMPACTS TO REPORT. OAHU. THE WATER SUPPLY IN THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR HAS INCREASED TO PRE-DROUGHT LEVELS. ON APRIL 23...THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RESCINDED THE MANDATORY 10 PERCENT WATER USE RESTRICTION FOR THE WAIMANALO RESERVOIR. A VOLUNTARY 10 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER USE HAS TAKEN ITS PLACE AS A PRECAUTION HEADING INTO 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 APRIL 5 UPDATE. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN VERY POOR. AN EARLIER REPORT INDICATED THAT AXIS DEER HAVE BEEN ENCROACHING POPULATED AREAS OF THE ISLAND FOR FORAGE DUE TO POOR SUPPLIES ELSEWHERE. MAUI. LATE FEBRUARY AND EARLY MARCH RAINFALL HELPED BRING SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO PASTURES AND VEGETATION. HOWEVER...A LACK OF FOLLOW-UP RAIN DURING THE REMAINDER OF MARCH AND MOST OF APRIL RESULTED IN A RESUMPTION OF DETERIORATION OVER THE LEEWARD SECTIONS OF MAUI. SOME RANCHERS HAVE DESTOCKED PASTURES IN THESE AREAS DUE TO POOR FORAGE CONDITIONS. ONE 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. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE THE APRIL 5 UPDATE. PASTURES AND GENERAL VEGETATION OVER MOST OF THE SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT WERE IN VERY POOR CONDITION. 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...LA NINA HAS WEAKENED ACROSS THE TROPICAL PACIFIC. LA NINA WAS TRANSITIONING TO ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS DURING APRIL 2012. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OUTLOOK ISSUED ON APRIL 19 BY THE NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATED THAT PROBABILITIES DO NOT TILT IN FAVOR OF ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SPRING 2012. THE NEXT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ON MAY 17. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MONTHLY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES FOR APRIL INDICATED THAT MONITORED STREAMS ALONG THE WINDWARD SLOPES OF THE STATE WERE IN THE NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL RANGE. MOST OF THE LEEWARD SITES HAD BELOW NORMAL FLOW AVERAGES. WHILE THE PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY MEANINGFUL SIGNAL...THE ONSET OF THE DRY SEASON SUGGESTS THAT AVERAGE STREAM FLOW LEVELS WILL DECREASE OVER THE NEXT MONTH OR SO. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON JUNE 7 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 $$