By Helen Altonn
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 12, 2009
Hawaii and Maui counties have been designated primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by drought this year, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials announced.
"President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to these areas and serious harm to farms in Hawaii, and we want to help," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "This action will provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses to warm season grasses."
Some parts of Hawaii had a lot of rain the past month, but it fell mainly in places that do not have serious drought conditions, says Kevin Kodama, senior service hydrologist at the Honolulu Forecast Office.
DROUGHT IN THE ISLANDS
Hawaii County
» Extreme drought: South Kohala
» Severe drought: Kau, North and South Kona
» Moderate drought: Lower Kona slopes (Honaunau to Kalaoa)
Maui County
» Severe drought: Central and West Maui, West Molokai
» Moderate drought: East Molokai, Lanai
Source: National Weather Service
Portions of the Big Island did not receive much rain, and they are still hurting from drought, said the National Weather Service meteorologist.
Hawaii’s wet season is from October through April, but Kodama and Jim Weyman, meteorologist-in-charge of the Honolulu Forecast Office, said in October it would be drier-than-normal from mid-December through April because of El Nino conditions.
An El Nino is a weather phenomenon in the equatorial Pacific with unusually warm sea surface temperatures that affect climate worldwide.
The Big Island’s South Kohala district had the sixth consecutive month of extreme drought in November, Kodama said. Some improvement occurred with rain in the early part of the month — from extreme drought to severe drought, he said.
Then it got windy, and farm agents said the winds "dried things out quick," Kodama said.
That window of opportunity to pull out of the drought is closing, he said.
Climate models have been pretty consistent in predicting drier-than-nomal conditions through the spring, Kodama said.