Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

A Five-Century Reconstruction of Hawaiian Islands Winter Rainfall

Henry F. Diaz NOAA/ESRL, and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado

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Eugene R. Wahl NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Information/Center for Weather and Climate/Paleoclimatology Group, Boulder, Colorado

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Eduardo Zorita Institute for Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Hamburg, Germany

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Thomas W. Giambelluca Department of Geography, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii

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Jon K. Eischeid NOAA/ESRL, and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado

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Print Publication:
01 Aug 2016
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0815.1
Page(s):
5661–5674
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Abstract

Few if any high-resolution (annually resolved) paleoclimate records are available for the Hawaiian Islands prior to ~1850 CE, after which some instrumental records start to become available. This paper shows how atmospheric teleconnection patterns between North America and the northeastern North Pacific (NNP) allow for reconstruction of Hawaiian Islands rainfall using remote proxy information from North America. Based on a newly available precipitation dataset for the state of Hawaii and observed and reconstructed December–February (DJF) sea level pressures (SLPs) in the North Pacific Ocean, the authors make use of a strong relationship between winter SLP variability in the northeast Pacific and corresponding DJF Hawaii rainfall variations to reconstruct and evaluate that season’s rainfall over the period 1500–2012 CE. A general drying trend, though with substantial decadal and longer-term variability, is evident, particularly during the last ~160 years. Hawaiian Islands rainfall exhibits strong modulation by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), as well as in relation to Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO)-like variability. For significant periods of time, the reconstructed large-scale changes in the North Pacific SLP field described here and by construction the long-term decline in Hawaiian winter rainfall are broadly consistent with long-term changes in tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) based on ENSO reconstructions documented in several other studies, particularly over the last two centuries. Also noted are some rather large multidecadal fluctuations in rainfall (and hence in NNP SLP) in the eighteenth century of undetermined provenance.

Supplemental information related to this paper is available at the Journals Online website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0815.s1.

Corresponding author address: Henry F. Diaz, Department of Geography, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822. E-mail: hfdiaz@hawaii.edu

Abstract

Few if any high-resolution (annually resolved) paleoclimate records are available for the Hawaiian Islands prior to ~1850 CE, after which some instrumental records start to become available. This paper shows how atmospheric teleconnection patterns between North America and the northeastern North Pacific (NNP) allow for reconstruction of Hawaiian Islands rainfall using remote proxy information from North America. Based on a newly available precipitation dataset for the state of Hawaii and observed and reconstructed December–February (DJF) sea level pressures (SLPs) in the North Pacific Ocean, the authors make use of a strong relationship between winter SLP variability in the northeast Pacific and corresponding DJF Hawaii rainfall variations to reconstruct and evaluate that season’s rainfall over the period 1500–2012 CE. A general drying trend, though with substantial decadal and longer-term variability, is evident, particularly during the last ~160 years. Hawaiian Islands rainfall exhibits strong modulation by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), as well as in relation to Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO)-like variability. For significant periods of time, the reconstructed large-scale changes in the North Pacific SLP field described here and by construction the long-term decline in Hawaiian winter rainfall are broadly consistent with long-term changes in tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) based on ENSO reconstructions documented in several other studies, particularly over the last two centuries. Also noted are some rather large multidecadal fluctuations in rainfall (and hence in NNP SLP) in the eighteenth century of undetermined provenance.

Supplemental information related to this paper is available at the Journals Online website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0815.s1.

Corresponding author address: Henry F. Diaz, Department of Geography, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822. E-mail: hfdiaz@hawaii.edu

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