Name: Drought in Hawaii, June 9 to 30, 2009
Start: 2009-06-09T06:00
End: 2009-06-30T23:59
Location: Hawaii

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.

Conditions worsened over parts of West Maui and the Central Valley during June. Water restrictions became necessary again because of low rainfall.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Honolulu, HI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 9, 3:30 AM HST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 9, 3:30 AM HST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
330 AM HST TUE JUN 9 2009

.SYNOPSIS...
LIGHT TRADE WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN AFTER MIDWEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE FAR
NORTHEAST OF THE ISLANDS DRIFTS CLOSER. CLOUDS AND SHOWERS WILL
FAVOR WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS...WITH A FEW SHOWERS EXPECTED EACH
AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS LEEWARD AREAS AS LOCAL SEA BREEZES
DEVELOP. SURFACE TROUGHING FROM THE EAST MAY PRODUCE INCREASED
CLOUDS AND SHOWERS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...BUT TOTAL RAINFALL
WILL REMAIN LIGHT. MODERATE TRADE WINDS AND DRIER TRADE WIND WEATHER
ARE EXPECTED FOR THE WEEKEND.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
THERE IS NO CHANGE IN FORECAST PHILOSOPHY FROM LAST EVENING. THE
1022 MB SURFACE HIGH NEAR 33N146W...FAR NORTHEAST OF THE MAIN
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS...HAS A WEAK ASSOCIATED RIDGE EXTENDING THROUGH
27N160W AND 21N170W...NORTH THROUGH WEST OF KAUAI. WEAK SURFACE
TROUGHING EAST OF THE ISLANDS HAS PUT A DENT IN THIS MODEST
RIDGE...KEEPING THE PRESSURE GRADIENT RATHER FLAT ACROSS THE AREA
AND TRADE WINDS ON THE LIGHT SIDE ACROSS LOCAL WATERS. OUR AIRMASS
IS A BIT MORE MOIST THAN THIS TIME YESTERDAY. OVERNIGHT SOUNDINGS
HINT AT THE EFFECT A CLOUD BAND IS HAVING ON TOTAL MOISTURE CONTENT
ACROSS THE ISLAND CHAIN...WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER REMAINING NEAR 1.3
INCHES AT HILO BUT RISING TO 1.2 INCHES AT LIHUE. AS THIS CLOUD BAND
MOVES WEST ACROSS THE ISLANDS TODAY...WE EXPECT MODEST INCREASES IN
CLOUD AND SHOWER COVERAGE ACROSS WINDWARD AREAS.

LIGHT TRADE WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST WEDNESDAY...ALLOWING
AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES TO DEVELOP AS WELL AS INCREASED CLOUD AND
SHOWER COVERAGE ACROSS MOST LEEWARD AREAS. HOWEVER...MOISTURE
BROUGHT IN BY THE TRADES WILL CAUSE CLOUDS AND SHOWERS TO FAVOR
WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS. RIDGING ALOFT WILL HOLD...MAINTAINING
STABLE CONDITIONS AND LIGHT RAINFALL TOTALS.

WEAK TROUGHING MENTIONED EARLIER WILL PASS OVER THE MAIN ISLANDS
WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...PROVIDING ANOTHER SLIGHT BOOST IN
SHOWER ACTIVITY MAINLY FOR WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS. TROUGHING WILL
PASS WEST OF THE STATE THURSDAY NIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE AT THE
SURFACE AND ALOFT BUILDS NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. AS A RESULT...WE
EXPECT AN INCREASE IN TRADE WINDS WITH STABLE AND DRY WEATHER
TOWARDS THE WEEKEND.

&&

.MARINE...
THE CURRENT SOUTH SWELL IS SUBSIDING AND SURF MAY BRIEFLY DROP BELOW
8 FEET TODAY. HOWEVER...LONG PERIOD ENERGY FROM ANOTHER...LARGER
SOUTH SWELL SHOULD BUILD THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BOOSTING SOUTH
SHORE SURF WELL ABOVE THE ADVISORY LEVEL THROUGH THURSDAY. AS A
RESULT...THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH WEDNESDAY
MORNING AND WILL LIKELY BE EXTENDED. DUE TO ITS LARGER SIZE AND LONG
PERIOD ENERGY...WE WILL MONITOR THIS SWELL AS IT HITS BUOY 51003 TO
DETERMINE IF SIGNIFICANT HARBOR SURGES ARE POSSIBLE FOR SOUTH FACING
HARBORS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH SURF ADVISORY THROUGH 600 AM HST WEDNESDAY FOR SOUTH FACING
SHORES OF ALL HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

&&

POWELL

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Maui Windward West

When: June 9, 6:00 AM HST to June 30, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Maui Windward West forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 21.027, -156.788 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Maui Leeward West

When: June 9, 6:00 AM HST to June 30, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Maui Leeward West forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 21.027, -156.788 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Maui Central Valley

When: June 9, 6:00 AM HST to June 30, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Maui Central Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Hawaii in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, June 2009

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 169166, 169167, 169168.