Posted at 11:45 a.m., Monday, July 2, 2001

Muggy weather to linger

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Fishermen enjoy a quiet morning off Magic Island as the glaring sun promises another day of sticky heat. Weather forecasters say the normally cooling tradewinds are being weakened by an upper-level trough to the north of the state, raising humidity to 74 percent in Honolulu today, and 93 percent in Hilo. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

If the warm weekend left you sticky, today might be a good day to buy a fan, because the National Weather Service says these conditions are going to last for several days.

"We're feeling not really the heat, but the humidity," said meteorologist Brad Fujii, a forecaster at the weather service. "We don't expect the winds to pick up until midweek. And it looks like these muggy conditions will continue through the end of the week."

How humid was it? This morning in Honolulu, the humidity was 74 percent, but it was worse in Hilo, where residents sweltered with 93 percent.

"Oh, it's just humid, humid, humid," said Danae Balag, a hostess at Ken's House of Pancakes in Hilo. "Not even fans work. It just pushes more hot air on you. You might as well take an ice bath."

The stillness is being caused by a weak upper-level trough that weakened "the wind field" north of the state. Such conditions kill the normally cooling tradewinds. The weather service predicted a high of 84 or 85 degrees today, and an overnight low of 76.

People with breathing problems often suffer in high humidity. Dr. Christine Fukui, a pulmonologist at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center, headed to work today expecting to hear from patients feeling the heat.

"The humidity alone, even if it is not voggy, makes it harder to breathe," she said. "A lot of times patients ask what they can do. I think air conditioning really helps. It makes it cooler and lowers the humidity. If you can go some place that is air-conditioned, you will feel better."

As if that isn't bad enough, things may get worse Wednesday, on the Fourth of July.

"It all depends," fire department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said of the potential for a smoky holiday. "Sales have been slow for fireworks. Maybe everybody is buying those novelty items — some of them put out a lot of smoke."

The department will have three extra units in service during the holiday to combat fires and help people with difficulty breathing, Soo said.