It’s technically the rainy season for most of Hawaii, but the entire state is in drought, according to the National Weather Service.
The situation worsened for the entire Big Island in the span of a week in January. It went from “abnormally dry” conditions to “moderate drought” for most of the island, with a small, triangular area of “severe drought” in the northwest corner.
“Ranchers on the Big Island have been reporting worsening pasture conditions in the north, southeast and south sides of the island,” Kevin Kodama, senior service hydrologist for the NWS in Honolulu, said in his monthly drought information statement.
There also are small areas of “extreme drought” in the leeward coastal areas of Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai.
The descent into drought occurred despite most of the rain gauges in the western half of the Big Island posting above-average rainfall totals for January.
“For many of these sites, it was the most significant rainfall since August 2024 during the passage of Hurricane Hone to the south of the island,” said Kodama. “The east half of the island had higher totals than the west half, but most of these were below the longterm January average.”
Several West Hawaii sites had their highest January rainfall totals since 2005. That includes: Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport with 4.02 inches; Honaunau with 6.52 inches; Kealakekua with 6.62 inches; Pohakuloa Training Area (West) with 3.88 inches; Puuanahulu with 3.13 inches; Puu Waawaa with 3.28 inches; Waikii with 5.11 inches and Waiaha with 7.71 inches.
“The west half of the island got needed rainfall; they definitely needed some rain. But I think they still need some follow-up rainfall,” Kodama said.
Most of that rain came in one fell swoop during a low-pressure cold front at the end of the month, with Kona airport receiving 3.56 inches of that total in the 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. Jan. 31.
The majority of East Hawaii rain gauges reported January rainfall totals significantly below their monthly norms.
Notable exceptions were Hilo International Airport with 8.59 inches, 109% of its January average, and Pahoa, which had the highest rainfall total of any of the NWS automated gauges on the Big Island, with 10.78 inches, or 97% of its norm.
The drought materialized despite the NWS Climate Prediction Center’s forecast of a wetter-than-normal rainy season in Hawaii.
“The projections for the wet season still lean toward wetter than normal, but the first half of the wet season was pretty dry, so they’d have to make up some ground to get into above-average territory,” Kodama said. “October through January, it wasn’t that wet on the Kona side. The east side had the benefit of an early November storm, but a very dry December. And January on the east side, even though you got a part of that storm, the rainfall numbers are still below average in a lot of locations.”
The drought has been detrimental to the Big Island’s farmers and ranchers, but it’s been a boon to commercial water haulers.
“It has been continuous work every day of the week since November,” said Beverly Medeiros of JB Water Hauling.
Medeiros said one of her two trucks is servicing Hamakua, which no longer has a water hauler in the area.
Her company fills its tankers at one of two commercial standpipes at the Keonepoko Fill Station just outside Pahoa, but is hoping that the county will open a metered fire hydrant in Hamakua, so her driver could fill there and serve those customers more efficiently.
“Our truck could stay in Hamakua for the entire day,” Medeiros said. “Now, I’m trying to help Hamakua. It hurts us because of our (lack of) access to water. Because those customers have to pay for water hauled from Pahoa to Hamakua.
“It’s really hurt the community in general, because if I take my truck to Hamakua, that’s a four- or five-hour delivery time for that one truck to do it, back and forth to and from Puna.”
Kawika Uyehara, deputy manager of the county Department of Water Supply, told the Tribune-Herald in August that for haulers to be authorized to use a fire hydrant to refill, the U.S. Drought Monitor has to register severe drought for three or more weeks in the haulers’ service area.
“‘It’s not a massive drought’ is always the excuse from the county,” Medeiros said. “It sucks, because the consumer has to pay more because of expenses going up. But they’ve got to pay for that distance.
“I had a talk with Mayor (Kimo) Alameda last year, and he said he would see what he could do. I hope he does something.”
Medeiros said her customers are currently on about a four-day backlog waiting for service. She said those on rain catchment should call a water hauler when their tank is half-full.
“Half-tank, call and get on a water hauler’s list,” she said.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
