The windward side of the Big Island has experienced some April showers, but through March, not a single official rain gauge measured average rainfall.
That’s according to the monthly rainfall summary released last week by the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
“For the next one or two weeks, it’s probably going to look more normal for this time of year,” said Kevin Kodama, senior service hydrologist for NWS. “But we are getting toward the end of the wet season, so our chance of getting a big rain event is becoming less and less. This time of year we can expect more persistent trades, and at least in that regard, Hilo is going to get the rainfall we would normally expect, but the leeward areas are just running out of time.”
The rainy season for most of Hawaii runs from October through April, and nowhere is the need for rain more apparent than in paniolo country. Kohala Ranch received less than a half-inch of rain in the first three months of the year, 10% of average.
Kahua Ranch has been wetter at just under 8 inches through March, but that’s just 38% its norm for the first three months. And Waimea, home of Parker Ranch, received just 3.33 inches since the year began, a mere 17% of average.
“They’re already in D3, which is extreme drought, on the drought monitor,” Kodama
said. “The ranchers I’ve been talking to say they’ve been supplementing feed and hauling water. The pastures are in really bad shape, already. And unfortunately, I’ve been telling them that we’re just running out of time for them.”
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in Keahole was even more arid than usual. Total rainfall for the first three months was just 0.28 inches, a mere 8% of norm.
While it’s definitely wetter on the windward side, Hilo International Airport received only 4.31 inches of rain in March, 34% of its norm for the month. That puts it at 12.14 inches for the year through March 31, 41% of its usual rainfall.
The one exception was the Kona coffee belt, where all four rain gauges measured more rain than Hilo airport. Kealakekua received 6.68 inches, almost twice its monthly norm. Kainaliu tallied 5.4 inches, Waiaha recorded 5.18 inches, and Honaunau reported 4.81 inches.
“It looks like they got somewhat of an early start,” Kodama said. “They don’t usually pick up rainfall until May-ish, and then June through September is really the heart of their wet season. We’ll see what happens over the rest of this month.”
The recent rainfall in Hilo has been noted on social media by East Hawaii residents, but as of Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., Hilo airport recorded just 2.39 inches of rain for the month. If that rainfall rate holds for the month, that would mean 10.24 inches for the month — 2.3 inches below the norm for April.
That said, Kodama sees optimism in the rainfall East Hawaii has received toward the end of last month and in the first week of this month.
“It’s good that the last half of (March) got the windward side, at least, back on track,” he said. “Because it was looking pretty bleak. Even on the Hilo side, drought was starting to increase. Stream flows were pretty low, but they’ve come back up to normal levels, at least the Wailuku River and Honolii Stream. It’s much better the last couple of weeks than it was the beginning of March.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
