Posted at 12:22 p.m., Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Recent rain aside, it's been drier this winter
By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer
"It's drier overall," said Kevin Kodama, senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service. "The Big Island, especially, has been pretty dry this winter."
Statewide figures for November, December and January "were pretty much in the range of 30 to 60 percent of normal rainfall," Kodama said.
State climatologist Pao-Shin Chu cited rainfall totals from the Waihe'e weather station on O'ahu's windward side 7.56 and 5.33 total inches of rain for November and December 2001, respectively, compared with 3.77 and 2.51 inches in November and December 2002, respectively.
But total rainfall numbers this year have increased after recent significant showers, including the Valentine's Day storm, Kodama said.
"Most of our rain that we get is from random trade showers, so there's no organization to them because they just ride in through the tradewinds," said Tim Craig, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service. "I don't see any large, organized wet weather for at least ... the next 10 days."
