Drought, Windward Haleakala
- When
- February 8, 2:00 AM HST to February 22, 2:00 AM HST
- Where
- Windward Haleakala forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 21.027, -156.788 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Drought in Hawaii, February 8 to 22, 2022
Another part of Maui saw a period of D2, severe drought, during February; but this area recovered to D1, moderate drought, toward the end of the month.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Another part of Maui saw a period of D2, severe drought, during February; but this area recovered to D1, moderate drought, toward the end of the month.
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 Feb 7, 8:33 PM HST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 8:33 PM HST, 5 hours 27 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Honolulu HI 833 PM HST Mon Feb 7 2022 .SYNOPSIS... Moderate trade winds continue on Tuesday then diminish to more light and variable winds from Wednesday through Friday as a high pressure ridge drifts over the region. An approaching cold front will diminish north of the island chain on Friday as high pressure builds in north of the state. Trade winds will return this weekend with increasing shower trends. && .DISCUSSION... Satellite imagery this evening shows a high pressure ridge axis just north to northwest of Kauai with an approaching cold front near 170W. An upper level low lingers roughly 900 miles northeast of the Big Island is producing some unstable low level cloud bands that drift towards the islands on the easterly trade winds. Radar imagery shows scattered showers across the region mainly affecting windward and mountain sections of each island. Looking out into the near term future, moderate trade winds will continue on Tuesday with brief passing showers over windward and mountain areas. Shower activity will decrease a bit as the high pressure ridge axis begins to drift closer to the islands. Trade winds will diminish on Wednesday as the ridge axis weakens and moves over the islands chain and a more variable land and sea breeze pattern develops over each island. Clouds will build over island mountain and interior sections due to converging sea breeze winds and island surface heating. Cooling of the land at night will cause down slope land breeze winds to form, clearing out cloud cover each evening. Expect limited rainfall in this pattern due to strong subsidence aloft from the high pressure ridge. A cold front approaching the islands will stall out and diminish north of the state on Friday. Remnant clouds with this dissipated frontal band will drift through the region on returning trade winds this weekend. A high pressure system will drift eastward through the region on Saturday, passing just north of the Hawaiian Islands. This system will increase large scale pressure gradients and allow a return to moderate to breezy trade wind weather. Expect increasing shower trends from the dissipated frontal band and possibly from a nearby upper level low that long range models suggest will develop near the Hawaii region. Still some uncertainty on the location and intensity of this upper low that limits our confidence in island by island precipitation coverage and amounts for this weekend. Stay tuned. && .AVIATION... Moderate to locally breezy trade winds will continue through twenty-four hours and beyond. Weak land breezes will promote overnight clearing along south and west facing slopes. Leeward sea breezes will encourage cumulus development over island interiors in the afternoon and early evening. Expect showers to favor north and east facing slopes and coasts in the late night and morning hours then island interiors in the afternoon and evening hours. The air mass over the state is becoming increasingly stable due to a strengthening trade wind inversion between 05 kft and 08 kft. This will inhibit vertical cloud development and limit shower intensity. Brief MVFR CIG or VIS possible in showers, otherwise VFR conditions will prevail all areas. The next cold front is expected to approach the state on Wednesday. This will weaken the background trade wind flow and allow land and sea breezes to drive local weather. && .MARINE... Trade winds will remain in the moderate to locally breezy range through tonight, and a Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for coastal waters around Maui and the Big island. Winds will gradually ease beginning Tuesday and will remain light through Friday as an approaching front from the northwest nudges a ridge south over the islands. A high passing north of the area will bring strengthening trade winds by Saturday. A moderate west-northwest swell will arrive late Tuesday into Wednesday, potentially boosting surf to near High Surf Advisory levels. This swell will slowly lower through Thursday, then persist at small to moderate heights into the weekend. Another, larger, northwest swell may arrive in just over a week. Slightly elevated, short-period east swell and a small south swell will continue for the next couple of days. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM HST Tuesday for Maalaea Bay- Pailolo Channel-Alenuihaha Channel-Big Island Leeward Waters-Big Island Southeast Waters. && DISCUSSION...Bohlin AVIATION...Bedal MARINE...Kinel
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Rip Current in Florida, February 8, 2022
- High Wind in South Dakota, February 8, 2022
- Wildfire and Heat in California, February 8 to 15, 2022
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Maine, February 8 to 9, 2022
- Drought in Hawaii, February 8 to 28, 2022
- Drought in Nebraska, February 8 to 28, 2022
- Drought in Texas, February 8 to 28, 2022
- Flood in Illinois, February 8 to 13, 2022
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, February 2022
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: 1001257.