The islands always had a "wet" side and a "dry" side naturally, and the dry sides are quite hot and sparsely covered. If you look up "Hawaii drought" as I just did, it's a tangled mess. They have a drought monitoring agency, they have the usual alarmists saying climate change makes it all worse, they seem to have had "droughts" frequently lately, but not clear about how long they last--not years like here in the desert. Interestingly, one article claimed that an El Nino is followed by less rain, and there was a little El Nino this year. Regardless of how short their drought may seem to me, it's sure that so much vegetation can pile up in a short rainy period that when it dries, it will be a big tinder pile. Happens all the time in Oregon and California.
"The islands always had a "wet" side and a "dry" side naturally,...."
This is common with mountainous terrain and is called the "rain-shadow effect. In the United States, Washington, Oregon, California, and other Western States have many examples of rain-shadow. It's where the moist-laden air from the ocean precipitates on the windward side of the mountain and the leeward side is left sheltered and dry.
The islands always had a "wet" side and a "dry" side naturally, and the dry sides are quite hot and sparsely covered. If you look up "Hawaii drought" as I just did, it's a tangled mess. They have a drought monitoring agency, they have the usual alarmists saying climate change makes it all worse, they seem to have had "droughts" frequently lately, but not clear about how long they last--not years like here in the desert. Interestingly, one article claimed that an El Nino is followed by less rain, and there was a little El Nino this year. Regardless of how short their drought may seem to me, it's sure that so much vegetation can pile up in a short rainy period that when it dries, it will be a big tinder pile. Happens all the time in Oregon and California.
"The islands always had a "wet" side and a "dry" side naturally,...."
This is common with mountainous terrain and is called the "rain-shadow effect. In the United States, Washington, Oregon, California, and other Western States have many examples of rain-shadow. It's where the moist-laden air from the ocean precipitates on the windward side of the mountain and the leeward side is left sheltered and dry.