Alaska remained free of abnormal dryness or drought this week. Temperatures were generally near to slightly below normal across much of the state, with the coolest anomalies along the southern and southeastern coastline.
No changes were made in Hawaii this week. Temperatures across the islands were near to slightly above normal, with only small variations by island and elevation.
Palau was unusually dry this past week. Koror recorded only 0.62” during December 3-9, when the normal is over 2 inches. However, about 25 inches of rain fell during October-November, and there is no indication that impactful dryness could develop in the near future.
Across the Marianas Islands, Saipan maintains its abnormal dryness (D0) designation this week, and the same classification is introduced at Tinian this week. Saipan recorded no measurable rain this past week, and has received only 0.6” in the last 30 days. About 8.8” of rain has fallen on Saipan since the start of October, including just 2.62” for November 1 – December 9 (just over one-third of normal). Conditions in Tinian were boosted by a relatively wet November (5.52” or about 80 percent of normal) but less than 5 inches were observed in October (normal over 11 inches) and only 0.37” has fallen so far in December (just over one-third of normal). Farther south, Guam and Rota have been somewhat drier than normal for the past several weeks, but amounts have been running a bit above the amounts that could allow impactful dryness to develop.
December is off to a dry start in western portions of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). About an inch has fallen on Woleai in the first 9 days of the month, and just over one-half inch was reported in Yap. However, with October-November bringing 25” of rain to Yap and 35” to Woleai, no dryness or drought designation is warranted.
Across the central tier of FSM, December 1-9 featured more generous rainfall. Most locations recorded 2.0” to 5.2” during this period, which is near or above normal. Lukunor was drier than other locations, reporting just 1.2” of rain, but all of central FSM (Lukunor, Fananu, Chuuk, Lukunor, Nukuoro, and Kapingamaringi) received 9.5” to 15.5” during November, and in most locations October was as wet or wetter. The exception is Kapingamaringi, where moderate drought (D1) was in place last week. August-September brought only 5.65” of rain there (compared to a normal of 17.2”), but almost 14” fell during November, and the 2” noted so far in December has been sufficient to improve conditions, at least for the time being.
Precipitation was highly variable across the eastern reaches of FSM during the first 9 days of December. Pohnpei reported just 1.58” while 3.16” fell on Pingelap and 7.44” doused Kosrae. Prior to that, however, Pingelap reported almost 20” during November, and October-November featured 34” to 38” at Pohnpei and Kosrae. Given the robust rainfall of the last 2 full months, no dryness or drought designation is warranted at this time.
Across the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the northernmost islands are affected by abnormal dryness while no dryness or drought designation is justified elsewhere. Utirik remains in D0, unchanged from last week, while D0 was introduced at Kwajalein. Rainfall in Utirik was sufficient but several inches below normal during August-September. Amounts increased to slightly below normal during October, but November 1 – December 9 has seen a resurgence of dryness. Only 4.24” fell on Utirik during this period, which is a little over half of normal (7.90”). Kwajalein reported below-normal but adequate rainfall for a few months through October, but just over 7 inches fell November 1 – December 9, which is a less than what is typically necessary to keep up with demand, and well below the 13.4” normal. Farther south, December has been a mixed bag, with some locations reporting adequate to robust rainfall amounts (2.47” at Ailinglapalap, 3.90” at Majuro, and just under 2 inches at Jaluit) while others reported lesser totals (about 1” at Mili, and less than 0.5” at Wotje). However, abundant rainfall was observed during October-November across central and southern RMI (20 to 28 inches at Wotje, Ailinglapalap, Majuro, Jaluit, and Mili). This included a November with only about half of normal rainfall at Ailinglapalap, but a very wet October and somewhat increased rainfall rates for the first 9 days of December preclude introducing D0 there.
Like a number of other locations across the USAPI, Pago Pago in American Samoa has received considerably lower than normal rainfall since the start of December, but earlier heavy to intense rains make any dryness designation untenable. December 1-9 brought just 1.3” of rain to Pago Pago (less than 40 percent of normal), but with 60-day totals exceeding 35” and 90-day totals approaching 49” impactful dryness is not currently a concern.
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