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Kahului and Hilo airport gauges
register the driest February since
records began a half-century ago

By Rod Thompson
Star-Bulletin

HILO -- Last month was the driest February since rainfall records began at Kahului Airport 46 years ago and at Hilo Airport 58 years ago, according to the National Weather Service.

At Maui's Ulupalakua Ranch, President Sumner Erdman wasn't surprised by yesterday's announcement. His ranch records, which go back a quarter-century earlier than those of the weather service, show the lowest combined January and February rainfall since 1925.

The Kula ranch has been in a drought since 1997, Erdman said. "I'm an expert on drought after three years," he said.

"The grass is dying. Trees are dying. Springs are drying up," he said.

The worst is below 2,500 feet elevation, he said. "You can watch it on a daily basis wither away."

The normally wet season is now ending and the dry season beginning, he said.

The weather service said the extraordinary dryness occurred despite La Nina conditions in the Pacific that are supposed to bring extra rain.

Kahului Airport recorded 0.06 inches of rain in February, below the 0.07 recorded in February 1983, the service said.

Hilo Airport reported 0.52 inches, below the 0.58 recorded in 1986.

In Erdman's area, normal January and February rains are a median 7.11 inches. The ranch actually got a tenth of that, 0.70 inches, he said.

The result is loss of production in his cattle "factory," with calf numbers down 15 percent and weight on the calves down 30 percent, he said.

He and other ranchers are running out of tricks to deal with the problem, he said.

On the Big Island, Parker Ranch trustee Carl Carlson said his ranch was lucky to have adequate rain in January. Then pastures dried up in February.

"It's gone from green to dry in a month," Carlson said.

Cattle can eat the dry grass, and there is no immediate problem, he said.

Hawaii County Civil Defense head Harry Kim said some areas have deep soil, allowing them to withstand dry weather better.

Lee Kunitake at the U.S. Farm Service Agency said he has 27 ranches applying for federal grants to pay for drought losses.

Big ranches with more than $2.5 million in annual revenue, like Parker, aren't eligible, he said.

Even smaller ranches are reporting losses as high as $100,000, he said. After a federal formula is applied, they may receive only $20,000 in relief.

The dry weather has helped some crops such as coffee, producing early flowering, Kunitake said.

But he predicted orchards, such as macadamia nuts, will be the next to be hurt.