May is the beginning of the wet season for the Kona coffee belt, and it’s off to a fast start.
All four of the West Hawaii coffee belt rain gauges received higher-than-average rainfall for May.
Waiaha led the way with 11.12 inches, more than twice its average for the month. Kealakekua received 10.63 inches, twice its May norm, and Kainaliu and Honaunau received more than 1.5 times their average May rainfall at 8.24 and 7.31 inches, respectively.
Kealakekua had the highest one-day total during the month, 2.67 inches on May 25.
For the coffee belt, it was a continuation of a rainy season that began in April.
“It’s been a lot of rain but not too much,” said Bill Myers, CEO of Heavenly Hawaiian Kona Coffee Farm in Holualoa. “We had a blessing. It’s the most rain in maybe three years, but on our crop? Our crop looks beautiful.
“Our volume is certainly much greater than it was last year, when we had our droughts. It could become too much in time. But right now, the crop looks wonderful, especially compared to the droughts of last year. The rain, of course, is going to make the cherries larger, and it has,” he continued. “Last year, the crop was about 50% of normal. This year looks like we’re at least back to normal. My farm manager thinks we’re going to break records this year.”
Other leeward rain gauges also received higher-than-usual May totals, due to low-pressure systems aloft.
Puuanahulu and Kohala Ranch, at 3.92 and 3.72 inches, respectively, experienced their wettest May since those gauges started operating two decades ago.
Waikoloa Village, which usually records just under an inch of rain in May, tallied 2.46 inches.
There was one notable flash flood event during the month. On the morning of May 19, a low-pressure system helped trigger thunderstorms along the coastal sections of North Kona and South Kohala. Although brief, the passage of these thunderstorms — with rainfall intensities reaching 2 to 3 inches per hour — resulted in flooded roads in perpetually parched Puako.
The rainfall also was plentiful in Ka‘u coffee territory.
Kapapala, at 7.2 inches, had its wettest May since 2002, and Pahala, at 4.24 inches, was also well above its average May rainfall.
“Although May was wetter than average in many areas of the state, the forecast for the rest of the dry season call(s) for below-average rainfall and the onset of drought conditions over portions of the state during the summer,” said Kevin Kodama, senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
In East Hawaii, where May kicks off the start of the dry season, Glenwood, in the upper Puna rainforest, was the wettest populated area on the island, with 13.65 inches of rain, 86% of its normal May rainfall. Mountain View received slightly above its normal May rainfall, with 13.11 inches.
Pahoa, with 5.91 inches, and Hilo International Airport, with 5.46 inches, recorded 67% and 78%, respectively, of their May averages, but both were rainy enough to keep the landscape green.
The Hamakua Coast and Waimea each had a much drier than normal May.
Laupahoehoe, with 6.32 inches, was at 55% of its average rainfall, while Honokaa received just 3.61 inches, or 54% of its May average. And Waimea, in the heart of paniolo country, measured just 1.72 inches for the month, 43% of its May norm.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.