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MEDIA RELEASE

By the USDA for the week ending June 13, 2010

Rainfall totals continued to be extremely low in most locations of all counties throughout the week. The trade wind weather brought breezy conditions to the State, but the rainfall that normally comes along with the trade winds didn’t materialize. The little precipitation that did fall was primarily contained to the windward and mountain areas. The Drought Monitor showed that an astounding 99.6% of the State was under some type of drought classification. The two most extreme classifications (D3 – Extreme and D4 – Exceptional) were contained in Hawaii County. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) anticipates below-normal rainfall through the summer. The map to the right from CPC shows areas where drought is anticipated to persist or intensify.

The leeward side of the Big Island remained very dry with sunny to mostly sunny skies all week long. The windward side experienced localized showers throughout the week but with no real amounts that would benefit crops significantly. The Waimea Irrigation System water level was marked at 49.5 feet on Thursday, June 10th. This was an increase of 5 percent from the 47.0 feet measured a week prior. High temperatures ranged in the low to mid-80s, while the lows ranged from high-60s to low-70s. A record daily low temperature of 64 degrees was set in Hilo on Saturday, June 12. This tied the record low set on the same day in 1994.

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