ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tourists took in the views yesterday at the Pali Lookout. Soaked with months of wet winter weather, Hawaii is the greenest it has been in years, affording a view of the islands seldom seen by visitors and even many residents.
Wet weather
transforming islesIn addition to turning Hawaii green,
rains have caused millions in losses
for farmers
Who says it's not easy being green?
CORRECTION
Tuesday, April 20, 2003>> Michael Buck is the state's forestry wildlife director. In a story on Page A3 yesterday, his last name was misspelled as Buch.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.Soaked with months of wet winter weather, Hawaii is the greenest it's been in years -- affording a view of the islands seldom seen by visitors and even many residents.
And while frequent downpours aren't getting rave reviews, the verdant results are as native plants bloom, fields of dirt turn green and waterfalls generously flow.
Perhaps the most noticeable result of the soggy conditions has been the transformation of points like Punchbowl and Diamond Head from dry and brown to lush and green.
"People look at them and say, 'Oh my God, I didn't know it could get green,'" said Michael Buch, the state's forestry wildlife director.
The wet weather's effects on Diamond Head do not end with its color. An area within the crater designated as a seasonal wetland has been rejuvenated.
"In the past five years, it's been a little puddle," said Yara Lamadrid-Rose, supervisor of the state park. "Now it's huge."
Parts of the islands are always lush, but now even normally dry spots are being transformed.
Buch saw a backyard spring at his Waimanalo home fill with water again after two years being dry. Tiny waterfalls across the islands that are usually invisible have reappeared after storms. Even the uninhabited island of Kahoolawe, long recognized by its trademark red dirt, has filled with green.
Michael Walther, whose Oahu Nature Tours company leads hikes throughout the island, said native plants whose seeds have been dormant in the soil for years are now germinating.
But the rains have not been a godsend for all.
On the Big Island, Mac Farms of Hawaii lost about 2,400 macadamia nut trees from its South Kona orchard to the rain. On Oahu's Ewa Plain, about 180 acres of sweet onions were washed away at Aloun Farms. And in Waimanalo, Dean Okimoto has had trouble growing an island favorite, Nalo greens.
In all, farmers have reported millions of dollars in losses related to the rains.
And some tourists were disappointed by cloudy skies and showers that made Hawaii's outdoors less appealing.
"When you have more rain, you have more muddy conditions and slipperiness," said Walther, whose tours go on rain or shine.
All told, it is the most significant wet season for Hawaii in seven years -- one that included mounds of snow on the state's highest peaks, flooding throughout the islands and even hail and tornadoes.
For a while after the wet weather began in November, forecasters insisted it was normal. The preceding years had been abnormal, meteorologists said, and this season was simply a return to the normalcy.
Not anymore.
"It's been abnormal," said Nezette Rydell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
Through the end of March, 89 of 102 state points for which information was available saw higher-than-normal rainfall.
In Honolulu, nearly 17 inches of rain was recorded through March 31 at the airport -- a 242 percent increase over the norm. In Lihue, rains were 127 percent above normal; in Kaunakakai on Molokai, three times the average; in Lanai City, 266 percent of the normal rainfall; and Hilo logged rain at 147 percent the average.
As for Hawaii's new, green look at Diamond Head and elsewhere, Lamadrid-Rose says she is unsure whether she favors it over its former appearance.
"It's a beautiful place any way you look at it," she said.
