Drought in Hawaii, June 1 to 30, 2001

Maui CountyIn what has become a rare occurrence in recent months, most of the gages in Maui County reported near to above average rainfall totals. The caveat, though, is that "average" for June at most locations is low; so a decent shower or two will bring the monthly total close to average. For example, the June total for Lahainaluna is 0.16 of an inch. Since the "normal" for the month is only 0.20, this total is 80 percent of that small average. Thus, for 2001 through the end of June, Maui County has been very dry with almost all totals below 50 percent of average.Island of HawaiiLeeward showers brought some relief to parched areas of Kona and South Kohala in June, especially from the 4th to the 6th. For the month of June, as a matter of fact, gages in the Kona districts reported near average rainfall. However, cumulative rainfall totals for the first six months of 2001 showed that most locations in the southern and western parts of the Big Island were in the 40 to 60 percent of average range.The following list contains rainfall statistics for selected locations from Maui County and the island of Hawaii where there have been drought conditions. The first column is the observed rainfall for June. The second column is the 30-year average for each location, while the third column lists the percent of average for the month. The fourth and fifth columns are the year-to-date totals and percent of average, respectively. YTD June 01 Avg. %Avg. YTD %Avg.Maui Kihei 0.00 0.10 0 0.59 6 Lahainaluna 0.16 0.20 80 1.23 10 Kula 1.09 1.10 99 5.94 34 Ulupalakua 1.48 1.90 78 7.32 36Molokai Kaunakakai 0.46 0.30 153 1.97 20 Kamalo 1.29 1.30 99 8.88 45Lanai Lanai City 2.62 1.40 187 8.27 38Island of Hawaii Honaunau 5.99 7.00 86 14.40 45 Kamuela (Upper) 2.14 3.00 71 11.89 37 Waiaha 6.10 8.60 71 15.26 42 Kahua Ranch 0.80 4.30 19 9.25 21 Kealakekua 5.72 8.20 70 16.60 46Drought conditions in parts of the Aloha State continue to harm agricultural and ranching interests. Some ranchers are wondering whether they should stay in the cattle business and are looking for other options. This includes Kahua Ranch, which will be the site of a wind farm being developed by Kahua Power Partners to generate 10 megawatts of electricity for the Big Island grid.