The rainy season here is falling so far short of normal this year that Hawaii is the only state with a National Weather Service assessment of “;extreme drought”; status.

Local forecasters said about three-quarters of the state is experiencing at least moderate drought. Kohala and southern regions of the Big Island, South and West Maui and the western third of Molokai are considered in extreme drought.

Oahu is the only island without a drought classification, but most gauges registered January rainfall at less than half of normal precipitation, according to National Weather Service statistics. Lanai, the northeastern third of Kauai and the Kona side of Hawaii island are in moderate drought.

The rainfall shortage for the past several months led the U.S. Department of Agriculture in December to designate Hawaii and Maui counties as natural disaster areas, which qualifies farmers to apply for low-interest emergency loans.

The dry winter is taking its toll on farming and ranching.

“;Pastures and general vegetation conditions are very poor”; in western and southern Big Island areas, making them “;vulnerable to brush fires,”; said NWS hydrologist Kevin Kodama. On Maui and Molokai, “;ranchers have reported losses and an above-average culling of herds.”;

Dean Okimoto, president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, said, “;Farmers get a lot of bug problems and disease problems with dry weather. During winter we usually don't have to spray so much. All of the farms I know have been hit with major blight.”;

“;You don't see much sweet corn this year,”; added Okimoto, owner of Nalo Farms in Waimanalo. “;They are really hit hard.”;

Alan Gottlieb, president of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, said, “;It's cumulative. It's been dry for five years.”;

As pastures dry up, ranchers “;slowly but surely are reducing their herds,”; he said, adding, “;We were hoping for some late storms, but the chances are getting less and less.”;

Kodama said the long-range forecast is that less-than-normal rainfall will continue through spring, due to the El Nino phenomenon, which returned in the middle of last year.

“;Without El Nino, in a normal wet season, we would tend to get more storms close to us,”; Kodama said. “;The storm tracks now have been going west to east, well north of the state, and moving quickly away.”;

El Nino—meaning “;the little boy”; in Spanish—occurs every two to seven years with warming of ocean water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific, a phenomenon that significantly affects global weather, ocean conditions and fisheries.

There is a worse designation, “;exceptional drought,”; said Kodama. “;We've never been there.”;