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If you thought this past winter was unseasonably dry in your neck of the woods, you’re not alone. The National Weather Service announced this month that the seven-month wet season, called a “hooilo” in Hawaiian, was one of the driest in the last half-century.

Kevin Kodama, senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s Honolulu branch, wrote in his most recent that the 2009-2010 wet season, which began in October and ended April 30, was among the driest of the last 55 years. Only three other wet seasons — 1997-1998, 1977-1978 and 1972-1973 — were in the same ballpark.

Kodama said he compared the last 30 years of annual wet season rainfall totals seen at each of seven gauges across the state — Lihue Airport, Honolulu Airport, Hilo Airport, Molokai Airport, Manoa’s Lyon Arboretum, Ulupalakua Ranch on Maui and Kapapala Ranch on the Big Island. The 2009-2010 wet season averaged 24.9 in those rankings.

Take a look at , which Kodama graciously provided to Civil Beat, to see the results and to understand just how dry your island’s winter was compared to years past.

This matters for a whole host of reasons:

• Wildfires could be common this summer. They’ve already and could get worse, especially during July 4 fireworks celebrations.
• Your hike to Manoa Falls or any other waterfall might reward you with a view of a trickle instead of a mighty torrent.
• Wild pigs in search of drinking water often make their way down out of the mountains to more residential areas. Will Honolulu be overrun by swine?
• The crops that require a healthy water supply — meaning all of them — if the next few months don’t bring more rain. Cattle too.

Are there any impacts I may have forgotten? Join the conversation and let me know how you think we might feel the dry winter in coming months.