Drought in Hawaii, June 1 to 30, 1998

Widely variable amounts of precipitation occurred across the state. This is not out of the ordinary for the month of June, which is one of the drier months of the year. In general across the island chain, especially in the drier sections, one significant rainshower during the month can greatly exceed the station's average, or missing a shower can keep a location below average. Therefore, it is very difficult to use these statistics to determine the state of the drought conditions in many locales. Some areas around the state, such as Kauai and portions of the Big Island of Hawaii, received significant rainfall. This has reduced the short term drought, if not all the drought conditions, for these areas. In contrast, in the Kona area of the Big Island, the drought is still evident with June being the eighth consecutive month of below average rainfall.During much of June, a ridge of high pressure remained strong across the Pacific to the north of Hawaii. The high pressure ridging kept much of the island chain in near average trade wind, and trade wind shower, conditions. However, some places received much above average rainfall. This extra precipitation in windward, mauka and some interior locations helped relieve some of the very dry conditions there. However, much more rainfall is needed to get beyond the longer term drought situation in other areas.The following are rainfall statistics for selected locations from around the state. The first column is the rainfall for June. The second column has the 30-year average for each location, and the third column has the percent of average rainfall for the month. June 98 Avg. %Avg.Oahu Honolulu 0.29 0.5 58 Waianae 0.01 0.3 3 Hawaii Kai 0.58 0.6 97 Manoa Lyon A. 24.87 11.7 213 Waialua 0.50 0.9 56 Ahuimanu (windward) 7.66 5.7 134Maui Kahului 0.04 0.3 13 Hana 2.30 3.8 61 Kihei 0.00 0.1 0 Lahainaluna 0.92 0.2 460 Wailuku 0.22 0.4 55Island of Hawaii Hilo 11.27 6.2 182 Pahala 0.55 2.2 25 Honaunau (Captain Cook) 3.45 7.0 49 Kamuela (Higher Elev.) 11.98 3.0 399 Kamuela 7.54 2.2 343 Laupahoehoe 9.42 6.2 152Molokai Kaunakakai 0.27 0.3 90