Trade winds not expected back until Friday
By Mike Gordon and Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writers
If the sultry weather has you down, today might be a good day to buy a fan. The National Weather Service says normal trade winds won't come back until Friday.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
You've already cranked up the air conditioning, it seems.
The glaring sun promises another day of sticky heat as fishermen enjoy a quiet morning off Magic Island. Weather forecasters say the normally cooling tradewinds are being weakened by an upper-level trough north of the state
The Hawaiian Electric Company yesterday reported a 2 to 3 percent increase in peak demand.
It's not that it's so hot. The weather service predicted a high of 84 or 85 degrees for today, after an overnight low of 76.
It is, as they say, the humidity.
"Oh, it's just humid, humid, humid," said Danae Balag, a hostess at Ken's House of Pancakes in Hilo, where the humidity was measured at a sopping 93 percent.
"Not even fans work. It just pushes more hot air on you. You might as well take an ice bath."
On O'ahu, the humidity was 74 percent.
People with breathing problems often suffer in high humidity, according to Dr. Christine Fukui, a pulmonologist at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center.
"A lot of times patients ask what they can do," she said. "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."
Smoke from Fourth of July fireworks could make things worse. Although Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said firecracker sales have been slow, he noted that some people may be stocking up on novelty items that put out a lot of smoke.
HFD will have three extra units in service during the holiday to combat fires and help people with difficulty breathing, Soo said.
This disruption of the trade wind pattern typically is not felt until fall, NWS lead forecaster Roy Matsuda said. He said a low-pressure system has been sitting above the high-pressure system that normally generates the Islands' cooling trades, weakening it. The forecast for today and tomorrow is for partly cloudy skies, with isolated showers, and the trades at 5-15 mph.
The state had a similar lull in trade winds a week ago due to a tropical depression which had moved to the north of Hawai'i.
