(BIVN) – Above average rainfall is expected for this year’s wet season in Hawaiʻi, especially from December 2022 through April 2023, forecasters announced Wednesday.

Kevin Kodama of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration presented the 2022-2023 wet season rainfall outlook for the State of Hawaiʻi during a news conference on Oʻahu.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center anticipates the La Niña weather pattern, which has persisted through 2022, will continue into spring 2023.

Rainfall distribution can be influenced by the strength of La Niña. A weak to moderate event is favored, NOAA says, and heavy rainfall “may focus primarily on the windward slopes while leeward areas remain dry.”

Drought may continue through the wet season, the forecasters say, especially over the leeward areas of Maui County and the Big Island.

Kodama also presented a look back at the 2022 dry season. Most locations in Hawaiʻi had near-to-below average rainfall from May through September.

The worst impacts were seen on Maui and Hawaiʻi island. “Kona slopes on the Big Island had only a short period of drought in September and has since improved,” NOAA added.