10/13/11 Drought In Paradise

Much of the southeast and southwestern United States is under some form of drought. In Texas, for example, all but two counties are in exceptional drought category. There is also another part of the country that is also under a drought, but has largely gone unnoticed...Hawaii. All the islands except for Kauai are under a severe or extreme drought.

It hasn't been like this all year long. In fact, Hawaii actually had a "decent wet season"  in June, when flash flood warning were issued, according to National Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Kodama.  "But [it] didn't completely pull out of drought conditions," said Kodama, citing the brush fires that erupted in recent months. "When August and September rolled around, most of the state was pretty dry."

However, this isn't all a recent problem. Kodama went on to say that many locations around the state have been under drought conditions since 2008, and despite having a few intense rain periods in the last three years, they can't quite catch up to the rain totals they need.

The U.S Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency reports that various areas of Hawaii island have experienced a 30 percent to 100 percent loss of forage plants for livestock due to the drought conditions.

Few chances for rain late this week for the western islands, but for the ones to the east, which need it the most, there is no chance of rain for the next 7 days.

The weather service is predicting that October will end up being drier than normal but that rainfall from January through April or May could be above average.

Kodama said that gives Oahu and Kauai a chance of pulling out of the drought, but probably not Maui or the Big Island.

"One or two storms isn't going to turn it around for them," he said.

Sources: Honolulu Star Advertiser, University of Nebraska, NOAA