Low overnight, late-winter temperatures in Hawai'i are hardly comparable to those in International Falls, Minn., where the lowest temperatures in country are a routine matter.

But the next two nights in the Islands could be downright cold — at least by Hawai'i standards, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

A low of 59 to 66 degrees was forecast for last night, while things are expected to be a bit warmer tonight, with low temperatures expected between 61 and 69 degrees.

"That's a bit below normal, but not extreme," said Chris Brenchley, a forecaster with the NWS Honolulu Forecast Office.

The record cold mark at Honolulu International Airport for a Feb. 20 is 58 degrees, set in 1990. But that's well above the record low for any single February night, 53 degrees, a mark set and tied three times between 1976 and 1983. That's as cold as it has ever gotten at the Honolulu airport any time of the year, National Weather Service records show.

Lows around the state Thursday night included 68 degrees at Honolulu International Airport; 65 in Lihu'e; 64 at Kalaeloa; 61 at Wheeler Army Airfield; 65 on Maui; 66 on Moloka'i; 62 on Lana'i; 64 in Hilo; and a balmy 69 in Kona.

At Bradshaw Army Airfield, at an elevation of 6,500 feet in the Pohakuloa area of the Big Island, the overnight low was a brisk 41 degrees.

And at or near the summit of Mauna Kea, six of the 10 telescopes reported temperatures between 25.1 and 29.6 degrees at 9 a.m. yesterday.

The natural air conditioning is being brought to Hawai'i courtesy of the strong northeasterly winds, Brenchley said.

"In addition, the air is a little drier right now and that allows things to cool a little more," he said.

As the sun goes down, solar radiation from Island land masses dissipates rapidly and the dry air speeds the cooling process, Brenchley said.

Low temperatures on O'ahu are expected to warm up some, to 64 degrees or more, by the middle of next week.