The Big Island experienced an acutely arid 2025.
According to the National Weather Service, seven gauges in the Hamakua and Hilo districts recorded their driest calendar years on record — most notably the Hilo International Airport, which had its driest year since 1949 with 58.95 inches, or 49% of its yearly average of 120.39.
That was capped by the airport’s second-driest December since 1985, 3.84 inches, a mere 32% of its norm for the month. The airport’s lowest December rainfall total was in 2024, with 3.36 inches for the year’s final month.
Numerous other locales in East Hawaii and North Hawaii had record-dry conditions in 2025, a year that was defined by drought.
Waimea received 17.01 inches for the year, less than a third of its annual norm. Laupahoehoe’s 54.05 inches represented just 35% of its average yearly rainfall. Mountain View reported 89.42 inches for 2025, but even that lofty total is just 52% of its normal total for the year.
Waiakea Uka’s 82.35 inches is a mere 42% of its yearly average, while the University of Hawaii’s Waiakea Experimental Station, with 75.41 inches, saw only 47% of its normal yearly rainfall.
The only East Hawaii gauge to record 50% of its average December rainfall was Pahoa, with 5.61 inches. That brought the lower Puna town’s total for 2025 to 82.53 inches, 60% of its yearly average.
Paltry December rainfall totals also extended into Ka‘u, although there’s been some recent relief there.
Pahala, in the midst of the Ka‘u coffee belt, received just 1.48 inches of rain in December, a bit more than a quarter of its usual rainfall for the month. That made the town’s rainfall total for the year 31.96 inches, 56% of its usual yearly total. And to the west at Kahuku Ranch — which is normally drier than Pahala — just 0.47 inches of rain fell in December, giving it a 2025 total of 28.32 inches, 81% of its norm.
According to Tina Stall, hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Honolulu, Hilo remains in moderate drought.
Despite some January rainfall, Stall said the only changes in drought status made by climate scientists “were made along the (southern) Puna and the Ka‘u districts,” according to Stall.
“Those areas were improved by one category, so the extreme drought area in Ka‘u was upgraded to severe drought, and areas of severe drought were trimmed back a little bit” to moderate drought, she said.
There was some unseasonably high December rainfall in West Hawaii — although that portion of the island is inherently drier than East Hawaii.
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in Keahole received 1.56 inches for the month, 147% of its December norm, which made its total 2025 rainfall 12.75 inches, 129% of its average yearly total.
Wind-whipped Waikoloa, however, recorded just 0.83 inches for the month, exactly half of its usual December total. For the year, the hillside South Kohala village reported 13.07 inches, slightly above its annual norm.
The Kona coffee belt, which is at a higher elevation than the airport, has its rainy season in the summer — which is the reverse of most of the state — and gets more rainfall than lower elevations.
All four of the official rain gauges in the region posted normal or higher-than normal rainfall for December. In a truly unusual development, however, three of the four gauges tallied higher rainfall totals for the year than Hilo.
Waiaha recorded 85.11 inches, 180% of its yearly norm and a mind-boggling total in a year when most of the island was gripped by drought.
Kealakekua received 65.16 inches and Kainalu had 59.19 inches, 116% and 109% of their average allotment for a year. In all likelihood, Honaunau also received more rain than Hilo, but with at least two months of totals missing due to apparent gauge malfunctions, the South Kona location checked in at 56.14 inches for the year.
“I think they were helped out a lot by events that had southerly winds that allowed precipitation to get up into that area,” Stall said. “Now that we’re in more of a tradewinds situation, that won’t help them out.”
The National Weather Service’s online drought monitor said drought conditions are “still expected to improve or end over much of the state over the next three months” with probabilities favoring “above normal precipitation due to La Nina conditions predicted to persist for the next few months.”
Asked about La Nina, Stall replied, ““Yes, but all trends are still showing a transition back to (neutral conditions) over probably the next few months.”
“We’re going to need more than one or two precipitation events to get rid of that stuff,” Stall said of the drought. “The long-term indicators are still showing drought tendencies.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
