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Winds diminish as showers move over Hawaii


The return of moderate tradewinds Tuesday and Wednesday was apparently only a brief respite from the hot and humid weather across Hawaii.

National Weather Service forecasters say tradewinds are weakening as record high temperatures continued.

The forecast also calls for an increase in showers through the weekend, mostly in windward and mauka area. But scattered showers may also fall in leeward areas.

Hilo and Lihue tied high temperature records Wednesday. The high of 89 degrees at Hilo tied a record for the date set in 2005.

Lihue’s high of 87 degrees tied a record set last year. It was the second straight day of record temperatures for Kauai and the fifth day of record temperatures in Hilo since Sept. 17.

On Tuesday, Maui saw its third straight day of record temperatures with a 92 degree high tying a record at Kahului Airport set in 1993.

High temperatures Thursday should range between 86 and 91 degrees, with easterly winds of up to 15 mph.

Forecasters say a weather system moving over the state is bringing increased humidity and rain to the islands and will weaken the tradewinds.

“We’re expecting mostly cloudy conditions with occasional showers today,” said Tom Evans, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Honolulu office.

“It will be humid, but you won’t get as much sun as we did (over the past few weeks) because of the cloud cover.”

Evans said the tradewinds will become light enough for afternoon clouds and showers to develop over leeward and mauka slopes starting Saturday into next week.

The exception to the lighter winds is over the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, where strong winds gusting to 60 mph have prompted the National Weather Service to extend a wind advisory until noon Thursday.

The winds could make driving at the summit difficult.

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