Weather Review the the week ending August 22, 2010

Rainfall continued to be poor, with water gauges relatively unchanged from last week’s sub one-inch totals. The Big Island received most of its light showers over the weekend while all other islands experienced their showers early in the week with little to no moisture in the latter half of the week.

The Drought Monitor indications remained nearly the same as the previous week’s with 97.8 percent of the State under some type of drought condition. On the island of Kauai, severe [D2] drought was introduced as pastures and rangelands continue to worsen, causing impacts to the ranching industry there. In addition, there was a red flag warning issued by the NWS on the 19th that was cancelled on the 22nd. The issue affected all islands and was focused on the leeward and central parts of most islands. A red flag warning means that there are, or will be shortly be, critical fire weather conditions. These included a combination of a stable atmosphere, strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures, all that created the potential for rapid growth of fires. The warning was cancelled after fire hazard conditions were moderated as a result of relative humidity values rising above critical levels and trade wind speeds decreased.

Hawaii County
Rainfall decreased from the previous week in most locations, as showers were light and localized. A wildfire that started late in the weekend was reported to be burning rampantly on the Pohakuloa Training Area and had consumed over 1,000 acres. The rapid spread of the fire was aided by dry brush in the area which is experiencing drought conditions. The Waimea Irrigation System water level was marked at 49.9 feet on Wednesday, August 18th (the most recent date which data is available); an increase of 1 percent from the previous week’s reading of 49.5feet.

Maui County
Maui Country was mostly dry during the week with little rain after light showers that took place early in the week. The Molokai Irrigation System water level was marked at 14.5 feet on Tuesday, August 17th (the most recent date which data is available); no change from previous week’s reading. Phase III mandatory conservation measures remained in effect. Measures included a MANDATORY 30 percent conservation in usage from all non-homestead users.

Honolulu County
Conditions on Oahu were similar to that of Maui County. Farmers on the Waianae coast reported that conditions had been drier than normal, and had been for quite some time. The Waimanalo Irrigation System water level was marked at 14 feet on Wednesday, August 18th (the most recent date which data is available); an increase of 8 percent from the previous week’s reading of 13 feet. Phase III mandatory conservation measures remained in effect. Measures included a MANDATORY 30% reduction in use and water service limited to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between the hours of 7 am and 3:30 pm.

Kauai County
Partly cloudy skies with some rain showers were present early in the week. These clouds gave way to sunshine as the week moved on and temperatures rose

Agricultural Highlights

Orchards
Sunny skies promoted good progress where crops were irrigated. Those areas without irrigation did poorly and continued to wither.

Vegetables
No significant changes reported. Hot conditions affected farmers on the leeward side.

Livestock and Pasture
Low rainfall has continued to degrade pasture conditions in most areas.

For full report and rainfall data in PDF format click here.