In the offshore Battle of the Titan Weather Systems, the high-pressure zone of the east appears to be winning over the low-pressure trough of the west.

Translation: The trade winds should start picking up this weekend, said Jeff Powell, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service.

Powell said the trough, a formation 150 miles west of Kaua'i that's being hammered by thundershowers, poses some threat to the Garden Island. However, he added, the weather service's computerized models show that the high pressure east of the Islands may push it away.

Nobody is rooting for Team East more loudly than the O'ahu residents who have been heeding the call to conserve issued by Hawaiian Electric Co. Peak demand last night was 1,283 megawatts, said company spokesman Jose Dizon. That's just a shade higher than the 1,279 achieved Wednesday night after the utility issued warnings of potential rolling blackouts, Dizon said.

Coincidentally, the utility has workers waving signs downtown today promoting its "Live Energy Lite" campaign; it's part of the National Energy Month observance, Dizon said, and was not sparked by this week's power crisis.

Meanwhile, Powell cautioned against expecting the trades to erase the heat. High temperatures between the upper 70s and the mid 80s are forecast into next week, which is to be expected in the tropics, he said.

"We're transitioning into a winter weather pattern," he added, somewhat consolingly.

Dizon wasn't too consoled.

"I don't believe the weather guy," he grumbled. "This is October. It's too hot."