It’s a bad pun — but the humidity Big Island residents have endured for days now is going to stick around into Monday.
It’s a bad pun — but the humidity Big Island residents have endured for days now is going to stick around into Monday.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Ela were set to push down into the southern portion of the state today, bringing tropical moisture, unstable air and more sweltering heat to the Big Island. The remnant low was 300 miles northeast of Kona Saturday at noon and tracking southwest toward the state. Oahu was seeing widespread light showers from the system Saturday morning, National Weather Service forecaster John Bravender said. Similar shower activity was expected around the Big Island today.
The system has disrupted the normal drier, cooler flow of the northeast trade winds, which won’t reestablish until the beginning of the week, Bravender said.
“Late Monday we’ll see that drier air move in,” he said.
A high-surf advisory for 6-to 8-foot faces along east shores continued through 6 a.m. today, warning of hazardous surf and currents.
The heat index — how hot the air feels given its moisture content — at the Kona International Airport approached 100 Saturday afternoon and the actual temperature was 88 degrees, three degrees above normal and the highest level in several hot days. Hilo had record-high temperatures in the 87-to 88-degree range around the Fourth of July.
Debbie Cravatta, founder of Kohala Animal Relocation &Rehabilitation Service, urged people traveling with pets to remember to keep air flowing in their vehicles.
“Make sure your car is always ventilated, even if you stop only for 10 to 20 minutes,” she said.
Because dogs must have open mouths and pant to stay cool, it is a big mistake to muzzle a dog and take it for a walk, she said. And smaller breeds that hug the ground like Chihuahuas and dachshunds are susceptible to heat lying close to the surface, she said.
“It’s hot and they’re inhaling that,” she said. “Be conscious of the temperature of the surface they’re walking on.”
Increased cyclone activity in the Pacific has forecasters watching several systems, none of them an immediate threat to the islands. Tropical Storm Iune was located 380 miles south-southwest of Kona and was tracking west-northwest away from the state at 9 mph Saturday afternoon, packing 40 mph winds. Tropical Storm Halola was 620 miles southwest of Johnston Island, with 50 mph sustained winds as it headed west at 12 mph.
Two other systems in the Eastern Pacific are also set to develop this week. Tropical Depression Five-E was located off the coast of Mexico and moving west-northwest at 10 mph.
Although a long way from Hawaii and tracking along the coast with 35 mph winds, the system was forecast to reach hurricane status early in the week.
Another system closer to the boundary of the Central North Pacific basin was also expected to become a tropical cyclone by Monday. That area of low pressure was located 1,000 miles southwest of the tip of Baja California Sur, moving west-northwest at 10 mph.
Email Bret Yager at byager@westhawaiitoday.com.