WRRC Seminar

October 3, 3:00pm - 4:15pm
Mānoa Campus, POST 126

Rainfall in Hawaii is influenced by the El Nino, La Nina, and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO).

During the El Nino events, a state-wide drought condition occurs frequently and the opposite is true for the La Nina episodes. The positive phase of the PDO also results in low rainfall for Hawaii but its modulation on rainfall is weaker than that of the El Nino. Long-term total rainfall change is flat from 1905 to 1980 but followed by a drastic decline over the last 33 years (to 2013). Trends in climate change indices indicate that rainfall becomes less intense for Oahu and Kauai but more intense for the Island of Hawaii since 1950. In the meantime, most islands experienced longer, consecutive periods of no rainfall days and this increasing trend is very evident on the Kona side of the Island of Hawaii and east Maui. Spatial variability of rainfall extremes is mapped in terms of return-period intensities. This provides useful information for engineering design and flood risk analysis. The last part of the talk will focus on the projection of future climate change in Hawaii using both statistical and dynamical downscaling approaches.


Event Sponsor
Water Resources Research Center, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Philip Moravcik, 956-3097, morav@hawaii.edu

Share by email