Drought in Hawaii, May 1 to 31, 1998

The drought in Hawaii continued through May, but conditions did improve in some areas.Below average precipitation occurred across parts of the state in May. However, many locales, especially on the islands of Kauai and Hawaii, received above average rainfall amounts for the month. On the other hand, Oahu and Maui were drier than average, with only a few locations receiving average or above average rainfall. Though a long term deficit of precipitation continued over the state, many areas that are dependent on catchment systems for their water supply have been receiving some rain. This has lessened the drought conditions in those areas.May is a month that is a transition from spring weather to a more summer, and drier, pattern. However, moisture carried by the trade winds was sufficient enough to sustain windward and mauka showers across the state for much of the month. Most leeward areas, though, continued to be much drier than average.The following are rainfall statistics and comparative data (in inches) for selected locations around the state. The island and station name are listed with the May 1998 rainfall total. For comparison, the average for the month and percent of average are listed for each station in the following two columns. May 98 Avg. %Avg.Oahu Honolulu 0.16 1.1 15 Waianae 0.01 0.7 1 Hawaii Kai 0.19 1.1 17 Manoa Lyon A. 12.54 12.2 101 Waialua 0.59 1.7 35 Ahuimanu (windward) 2.48 5.6 44Maui Kahului 0.45 0.8 56 Hana 1.26 6.2 20 Kihei 0.00 0.2 0 Lahainaluna 0.10 0.7 14 Wailuka 0.30 1.2 25Island of Hawaii Hilo 15.65 9.9 158 Pahala 0.58 3.8 15 Honaunau (Captain Cook) 2.41 7.0 34 Kamuela 8.11 4.0 203 Kamuela (Higher Elev.) 11.74 3.9 301 Laupahoehoe 17.19 11.7 147Molokai Kaunakakai 0.33 0.9 37The drought, although less severe on the Island of Hawaii over the last two months than it had been in the previous four, is nonetheless expected to cause the loss of as much as 40 percent of flower growers' income in 1998 because of lost production. It has also hit coffee and macadamia nut producers very hard. The full impact that the drought has had on farmers, however, will not be known until sometime in 1999.