Hawaiʻi got more rain than usual during the wet season, but meteorologists expect drought conditions to return for much of the state this summer. Weather conditions are shifting to an El Niño pattern, which is likely to persist into the next wet season.
“While everything is green and lush right now, we are expecting below-average rainfall, as we enter the dry season in Hawai‘i," said Derek Wroe of the National Weather Service. "Our long-range modeling shows that even our normally wet winter (2023-2024) will be abnormally dry.”
The drier-than-normal projections have state and county officials concerned about the increased risk of wildfires.
"25% of Hawaiʻi is covered in invasive fires adaptive grasses. And while these grasses are flammable year around, they can produce extreme fire danger in these times of drought that impact our homes, our livestock and our forested watershed," said Mike Walker, state protection forester with the DLNR.
"During this upcoming drought season, we just want to encourage the public to be fire wise and fire safe. Maintain vegetation around your homes, be mindful of where you pull over and idle or park over dry grasses and be especially careful when welding or doing other hot work this summer."
More information about preventing wildfires can be found at hawaiiwildfire.org.
