Wetter-than-usual winter may ease Hawaii's long dry spell
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
There's good news for drought-stricken areas across the state: The National Weather Service expects greater-than-normal rainfall beginning in January.
But don't hold your breath: National forecasters also forecast a wet winter a year ago, but that didn't come true for most of the state. Abnormally dry conditions have persisted all year.
Kevin Kodama, senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said yesterday that more than three-fourths of the state has experienced mild to extreme drought this year.
One factor was that La Niņa conditions in the Pacific Ocean changed in early 2008 to "ENSO neutral" in summer 2008, he said. La Niņa and its opposite, El Niņo, are temperature fluctuations in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean that affect weather around the world. ENSO neutral means the Pacific is in between La Niņa and El Niņo conditions.
The weather service yesterday provided no specific forecasts on how soon the rain may come this winter or much rain the state will get, but Hawai'i's rainy season traditionally runs from September through April.
Among the areas worst hit by drought this year were parts of the Big Island, where drought conditions were termed "extreme" and resulted in livestock deaths, Kodama said.
Hawai'i's dry season typically runs from May through September.
This year, many O'ahu locations saw about half or less of their normal rainfall, according to the weather service. Windward and East O'ahu were "very dry." Honolulu International Airport has received only one-third of its normal rainfall so far this year.
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply has asked people for a voluntary water cut of 10 percent, and water restrictions were imposed on Waimanalo, including a mandatory 30 percent reduction in irrigation.
Maui County, which has also been drier than normal, had voluntary water conservation requests for Upcountry and Central Maui and a mandatory 20 percent cut in irrigation for Kualapu'u Reservoir.
On Kaua'i, most areas had below-normal rainfall and the northeast area had a request for voluntary water conservation. Kaua'i's eastern pastures also suffered, the weather service said.
Dan Nakaso contributed to this report.Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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