June 1 marked the official start of the dry season for most of Hawaii, but that might not be apparent after the rainfall East Hawaii has received so far this month.

Hilo International Airport as of 8 a.m. Tuesday had recorded 4.13 inches of rain for the month.

That would translate to 13.77 inches for the month, almost twice the normal June precipitation, if the rainfall rate continues for the remainder of the month.

The airport’s total, however, pales in comparison to the rain that found its way to most of the windward gauges on the Big Island.

North of Hilo, Laupahoehoe received 12.24 inches and Hakalau had 12.67 inches so far this month. Glenwood, south of Hilo in the upper Puna rainforest, reported 10.94 inches, while Pahala, in the heart of Ka‘u coffee country, tallied 8.4 inches since June 1.

All of those totals are well above the norm — especially Hakalau, with a total almost five times that of an entire average June, and Pahala, which already has received more than four times its usual June rainfall.

“It’s not a switch like a light switch. It doesn’t just become dry” at the start of the dry season, said hydrologist Tina Stall of the National Weather Service’s Honolulu forecast office.

In fact, drought conditions that have gripped much of the Big Island the past five years, spurred by El Nino — warmer than normal equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean — are gone, although there are locations on the Big Island still considered abnormally dry.

A pair of Kona low storms brought deluges that caused flooding and damage in March, but the spate of recent rainfall in East Hawaii is unrelated, according to Stall.

“We’ve had pretty typical trade wind weather for the past several weeks. There are just certain embedded areas of higher moisture that come through there,” she said. “I wouldn’t attribute it to climate.”

According to Stall, Hawaii remains in neutral conditions, neither El Nino or its opposite, La Nina, “but we’re trending toward El Nino.”

Stall said typical El Nino years in Hawaii bring “above normal precipitation” during the dry season.

“That’s partly due to the tendency for more tropical cyclones in the Central Pacific during an El Nino year,” she explained.

Hurricane season started June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. Forecasters have predicted a busy season in the Central Pacific with five to 13 tropical cyclones.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Climate Prediction Center last month forecast that an El Nino cycle had an 82% chance of occurring between now and July and a 96% chance of continuing through December to February.

“With an El Nino, the dry conditions really don’t set in until the winter, so if we end up getting above normal precipitation in the dry season, we could delay the effects of drought a little more. But this winter, it’s going to likely dry out,” Stall said.

El Nino doesn’t guarantee the development of tropical cyclones — which include hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions — but does increase the odds they’ll occur. And the forecast of five to 13 cyclones in the waters around Hawaii isn’t a prediction of landfall by any of the potential storms, although that could happen.

Most tropical cyclones enter the Central Pacific basin — which stretches from 140 degrees longitude north in the east and the International Date Line in the west — from the Eastern Pacific.

No tropical cyclones have either entered or formed in the Central Pacific so far this year, but at least three have developed in the Eastern Pacific so far this month. Tropical storms Amanda and Boris have dissipated and Tropical Storm Cristina was bringing heavy rain along the Central American coast and is expected to drift westward but weaken without entering the Central Pacific.

West Hawaii, and the Kona coffee belt in particular, experiences its wet season in the summer, unlike most of Hawaii. So far, leeward Big Island rain gauges haven’t shared in the June rainfall bounty.

Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in Keahole had received just a trace of rain this month as of 8 a.m. Tuesday. And the coffee belt gauges in Waiaha, Kealakekua and Honaunau reported 0.68 inches, 0.28 inches and 0.13 inches, respectively.

Asked if Kona coffee growers will receive their expected summer rainfall, Stall replied, “It’s too early to tell at this point, but I don’t have reason to think otherwise.”

Email John Burnett at john.burnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

Hui Hānai has been awarded a contribution from Hawaiian Native Corporation to publish the letters of members of the Kalākaua family in a forthcoming book, “Letters of Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawaiʻi with Her Family, 1859–1900.”

Members of the Kalākaua family ruled the Hawaiian Islands during the last 20 years of the monarchy: King Kalākaua (David La‘amea Kamanakapu‘u Māhinulani Nāla‘ia‘ehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua) beginning in 1874, and his successor and sister, Queen Lili‘uokalani (Lydia Lili‘u Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamaka‘eha), from 1891 to 1893. 

This is a collection of letters they wrote to their siblings and members of their extended families, most of which have remained unpublished. The family letters to and from King Kalākaua are rare; letters to and from Lili‘uokalani as Princess and Monarch are more plentiful, and they include intimate notes to and from her husband, John Owen Dominis, during their extended courtship and later marriage, as well as letters to and from her sister, Princess Likelike (Miriam Likelike Kekāuluohi Keahelapalapa Kapili), wife of Governor Archibald Scott Cleghorn. Cleghorn and Princess Likelike were the parents of Ka‘iulani (Victoria Kawēkiu Ka‘iulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Cleghorn), heir apparent to the throne, but due to the overthrow of 1893, she never became monarch.

This volume will include all of Ka‘iulani’s letters to Queen Lili‘uokalani as well as the Queen’s replies. Collectively they give a vital and intimate picture of the Queen’s abruptly ended reign, the life of Princess Likelike, and the untimely death of Likelike’s daughter, Princess Ka‘iulani.

Particularly important is the correspondence regarding the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893 and the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States in 1898.

“This project by Hui Hānai will present important documents and private and personal letters of Queen Lili‘uokalani and her family, enhanced by the detailed and thorough commentary of the respected late historian David W. Forbes,” said Allen Hoe, Chair of Hawaiian Native Corporation. “Once published, this work will offer readers a deeper insight into the Queen’s life.” 

S. Haunani Apoliona, of Hui Hānai, best describes the collaboration to complete David Forbes’ work: “We are joining hands in the collective effort to underscore the spiritual and ancestral importance of sharing the kuleana of bringing the Queen’s mana‘o and family forward into the light for clarity and understanding of her life’s challenges.”

“Letters of Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawaiʻi with Her Family, 1859–1900” is planned for publication by Hui Hānai in 2029, with distribution anticipated through the University of Hawai‘i Press.

In late 2025, Hui Hānai, a nonprofit organization that perpetuates the legacy of Queen Lili‘uokalani, acquired the publication rights for the title from the estate of David W. Forbes. A distinguished historian and bibliographer specializing in Hawai‘i, he had been collaborating with Hui Hānai on this project prior to his passing in Portland, Oregon, in January 2022.

Support for the acquisition of these publication rights was generously provided by the Lili‘uokalani Trust, the Christina F. Hassell and Watters O. Martin Jr. Family Foundation, and Hui Hānai.

“Having secured this significant milestone, Hui Hānai is now dedicated to the completion and publication of this work,” said Diane Peters-Nguyen, president of Hui Hānai. This will be David Forbes’ third publication in partnership with Hui Hānai providing insight into Queen Lili‘uokalani’s life—in this case, alongside the lives of Princess Likelike and her daughter, Princess Ka‘iulani.

Hui Hānai directors S. Haunani Apoliona and Mark Anderson will be working in association with Marilyn Kanani Reppun (librarian/archivist), Jason Kapena Achiu, and Barbara Pope. Barbara Pope Book Design, who worked with Forbes and Hui Hānai on their previous publications about Queen Lili‘uokalani, will provide editorial, design, and production services.

I wrote last week about new “60 Minutes” boss Nick Bilton, who is balancing his contentious new job while also writing a Martin Scorsese movie starring DiCaprio and Dwayne Johnson, which is apparently still a go at 20th Century/Disney.

Now, sources are telling Page Six Hollywood that Bilton has been working on the script for the last four months and is actually “95% done” — he got a ton of notes from Scorsese on this one.

“Marty wanted it to be more voice-over-y, more ‘Goodfellas,’” said an insider. “Those were the marching orders Nick was given, and he spent the last four months implementing the notes, fully knowing that his job [at ‘60 Minutes’] would be starting.”

“He sold the movie to Disney a year ago and spent about eight months working on a draft,” said an insider. We hear that “everyone was ecstatic,” including “the Disney team, The Rock and Emily [Blunt].”

The last time Scorsese made a “Goodfellas”-type movie is “The Wolf of Wall Street,” released 13 years ago.

Page Six has been hearing conflicting things about Scorsese’s Hawaii-set mob movie. One rumor is that the film would shoot this October. However, sources tell the outlet it ain’t so and that the movie won’t begin filming until next year — or even later, depending on the latest draft.

The film tackles the rise and fall of ‘70s underworld gangster Wilford ‘Nappy’ Pulawa, the first and only Hawaiian mob boss in the state’s history. The cast includes Johnson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Emily Blunt.

Scorsese is currently in post-production on the DiCaprio/Jennifer Lawrence-starring “What Happens at Night” at Apple. There have been rumors that he would shoot another film this fall, which is probably why some speculated that the Hawaii mob movie would be shot in October. However, it’s quite possible that it might be another project. Stay tuned.