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🌱 Maui Nui: Crop MonitorJanuary Storm 🌧️ |
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🔍 What You’ll Find In This Issue |
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✅ Community check-in! We met with Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite (UH CTAHR) to explore ways of making our newsletter more actionable and Shay highlighted concerns about recent rains and winds, noting flooding in Kihei and potential soil erosion impacts on upcountry farmers. 🌧️ The rain and wind of the January 30-31, 2025 storm damaged banana trees and infrastructure. 🪸 Mauka to makai: the storm led to runoff that continues to murky the waters even 7 days later! 💰 MCDOA Shared Opportunities: Apply for a MEO Agricultural Micro Grant mircrogrant by Feb. 25th! If you’re on Maui, attend an out of this world evening of stargazing and storytelling to support HFUU with Moku Roots on Feb. 16th!
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What are you seeing in your Ahupuaʻa? |
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Earlier in January, we met with Dr. Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite, who is an Associate Extension Agent of Edible Crops at UH CTAHR Maui Cooperative Extension Service. We discussed each of our capabilities, brainstormed potential support areas (insect pests and soil moisture monitoring), and reviewed farmer decision-making activities (water scarcity, irrigation issues, pest management). Rosemary also shared about their ongoing cover crop project that tests relationships between cover crop practices with soil health and water usage with current Maui growers.
Shay said: “I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about the flooding in Kihei (not surprisingly), but wondering how rains/winds impacted farmers upcountry, including possible soil erosion (if any)? We lost some bananas in Haiku but storms have not been that severe for us in recent years.”
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❗️Maui: Crops in Kula received the most amount of rain among the crops in all of Maui County during this storm. ❗️Molokaʻi: Crops received less than 3 inches of rain during the storm. ❗️Lānaʻi: Crops received about 2 inches of rain in total during the storm. |
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From January 30th to 31st, a severe winter storm rolled through Maui County, bringing rain, strong winds, flooding, and major runoff. Farmers and community members experienced a range of impacts—from loss of water and electricity access to soil erosion and wind damage. Rainfall totals varied across the region.
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Photo from Maui County Press Release County of Maui / Mia A’i photo. |
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💧 24-Hour Rain Accumulation Summary |
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Screenshot from the Synoptic Data Viewer from January 31st, 2025 7:40 (am) (HST) 24 hour precipitation total. Hawaiʻi Mesonet is supported by the National Science Foundation and Hawaii EPSCoR- RII Track-1: Change Hawaii: Harnessing the Data Revolution for Island Resilience. |
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Highest rainfall observed: 10.76 inches in eastern Maui, with several locations exceeding 9 inches (notably Kula and Koʻolau). Lāhainā and Kāʻanapali received 2 - 2.7 inches, significantly lower than Upcountry and East Maui.
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Figure from the Synoptic Data Viewer of wind gust of Kula area. Hawaiʻi Mesonet is supported by the National Science Foundation and Hawaii EPSCoR- RII Track-1: Change Hawaii: Harnessing the Data Revolution for Island Resilience. |
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Areas in Upcountry Maui experienced wind gusts above 40 mph, starting a couple of hours before rainfall and during the rain. These strong wind gusts placed stress on crops, broke branches, uprooted banana trees, and caused structural damage to infrastructure.
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❓Is this information helpful? Is there something more you think we could do? Is there someone we should talk to? Reach out to us at atarano@asu.edu. |
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Screenshot from the Synoptic Data Viewer from January 31st, 2025 7:40 (am) (HST) 24 hour precipitation total. Hawaiʻi Mesonet is supported by the National Science Foundation and Hawaii EPSCoR- RII Track-1: Change Hawaii: Harnessing the Data Revolution for Island Resilience. |
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The highest recorded rainfall was in Hālawa and Kona, with much of the island receiving a total of 1 to 2 inches of rain. These totals are much less than what was observed on Maui.
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Screenshot from the Synoptic Data Viewer from January 31st, 2025 7:40 (am) (HST) 24 hour precipitation total. Hawaiʻi Mesonet is supported by the National Science Foundation and Hawaii EPSCoR- RII Track-1: Change Hawaii: Harnessing the Data Revolution for Island Resilience. |
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Rainfall was lower compared to Maui, with observed totals ranging from 1.02 to 2.05 inches during 24 hours starting on January 30th 7:40AM (HST). Lānaʻi City recorded the highest accumulation at 2 inches, while areas in Kona received around 1 inch.
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💡 How have nutrients and soil health changed with rain events like these? Have you seen pests increase?
Email us to share your experiences with other subscribers at atarano@asu.edu. |
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🛰️ What We Saw from Space🔍 Explore the runoff effects of the storm from Landsat 9 🛰️ on January 31st, 2025 on this Google Earth Engine App for Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi (below)!
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The red arrows bring attention to areas of high turbidity during the first 48 hours after the storm so you can visually track changes. The water continues to show high levels of turbidity up to February 6th, 2025 in some parts of the county. Satellite images from PlanetScope provide a striking view of the storm’s impact (below).
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MauiPlanetScope imagery shows lingering turbidity along Maui’s southwestern coast several days after the storm. By February 6, 2025, turbidity had decreased in some areas (left arrow) but remained more pronounced near the Kihei coastline (right arrow).
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Images © 2025 Planet Labs PBC |
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MolokaʻiMolokaʻi’s nearshore waters experienced significant turbidity following the storm, with sediment plumes visible along the northern, southern, and western coastlines on February 1, 2025. By February 6, PlanetScope satellite imagery shows a gradual clearing of sediment, though southern areas still exhibit residual turbidity.
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Images © 2025 Planet Labs PBC |
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LānaʻiLānaʻi’s coastal waters showed increased turbidity following the storm on PlanetScope Scene imagery, with sediment plumes visible in the eastern shoreline areas on February 1-2, 2025. By February 6, the imagery indicates partial clearing, though some nearshore waters remain affected.
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Images © 2025 Planet Labs PBC |
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💰 Opportunities Shared through Maui County Dept. of Agriculture
We’ll keep you posted on upcoming opportunities from Maui County’s Department of Agriculture. Here is what’s in store this month!
1.MEO Agricultural Micro Grant Program 5.0
The MEO Agricultural Micro Grant Program will allow currently operating farms, and eligible start up farms, on Maui, Molokai, and Lana'i to qualify for grant funds of up to $25,000 that will have a direct impact on the availability of;
Apply here by February 25, 2025!
Eligible use of funds: Farming Equipment & Machinery Processing and Storage Equipment Farm Infrastructure, Expansion & Upgrades Inventory & Supplies Packaging & Packaging Materials Technology Equipment Marketing Supplies, Equipment & Websites Professional Development & Education
For more information on this program contact:
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2.HFU Haleakala Chapter Stories of the Stars MAUI | Sunday Feb. 16, 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM @ Moku Roots, 890 Waipoli Rd., Kula. An enchanting evening featuring Kula sunset views, farm-to-table pupus, live music, a silent auction, and a cosmic journey with local astronomer Harriet Witt. Cost: $50. Get tickets here. |
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👀 What would you like to see?We are happy to provide more detailed information that the community needs on a case-by-case, as approved by the community. Some of the previous values can be divided by your Ahupuaʻa or your zip code. You can email us at atarano@asu.edu to request information.
Have questions?Visit our website for Frequently Asked Questions or email us at atarano@asu.edu. Acknowledgements |
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