Tropical storm building to the east; heat melting records

A tropical depression developing more muscle in the Eastern Pacific may be headed our way, the National Weather Service warned Wednesday.

Tropical Depression 9E has been brewing in the Eastern Pacific and was expected to grow into Tropical Storm Guillermo by Thursday morning, the weather service said.

The tropical depression has the potential of developing into a hurricane and could reach the islands next week, according to the weather service.

The National Hurricane Center said at 5 p.m. Wednesday that Tropical Depression 9E was forecast to strengthen within 48 hours.

The cyclone will cross into the Central Pacific on Saturday, and will remain east of the islands on Monday, National Weather Service meteorologist Norman Hui said.

“It is that far away,” he said, so no forecast was available to tell with any certainty if and when it would hit Hawaii.

Tropical Depression 9E was 2,140 miles east-southeast of Hilo at 5 p.m. Wednesday, and was heading west at 15 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, the minimum wind speed for a tropical depression. It was expected to turn west-northwest Wednesday night.

Just ahead of 9E is Tropical Depression 8E, which is expected to cross into the Central Pacific on Thursday.

The National Hurricane Center issued an advisory on Tropical Depression 8E, which was some 1,200 miles east of Hilo as of 5 p.m. Wednesday. It had 35 mph sustained winds and was heading west at 16 mph. It’s forecast to dissipate by Thursday.

In May, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said there is a 70 percent chance of an above-normal hurricane season this year, thanks in large part to a persistent El Nino. An average season has four to five tropical cyclones.

Meanwhile, the tradewinds will continue until early next week, weakening slightly Sunday, the weather service said, and windward areas could see some showers from the remnants of Tropical Depression 8E.

Heat is melting records across Hawaiian Islands

A man walked into a Kakaako coffee shop Wednesday and thanked the owners, not for a coffee, but for the brief air-conditioned respite from the hellish heat outside.

If this summer feels hotter than usual, it’s not your imagination. Wednesday was the sixth day in a row for a Hawaii city’s temperature to climb to a record high or tie a previous record.

And Hawaii cities have set or tied heat records 22 days so far this July.

Kahului was a sweltering 93 degrees Wednesday, topping the record (92) for the date set back in 1997, the National Weather Service said. It was Kahului’s third record for July.

The high at the Kahului Airport on Tuesday was 95, tying the record for the date set in 1949.

In Hilo Tuesday, the high temperature of 87 tied a record set at the airport in 2007. Lihue’s high of 88 degrees Tuesday tied a record set in 1982.

Monday’s high temperature of 91 degrees tied the record for the date in Honolulu. The record was set in 1995.

On Sunday, a high of 94 degrees in Kahului broke the record for the date. The old record of 92 was set in 1969.

On Saturday, a high of 89 degrees in Hilo tied the record set in 2003. And on Friday a high of 87 degrees in Lihue tied the record set in 1982.

So far this month, the high temperature has set or tied 32 records across the state.

Tradewinds of 15-20 mph returned Wednesday and are likely to continue into the weekend. But the National Weather Service is not forecasting temp- eratures to go down.

“Unfortunately not,” said weather service forecaster Norman Hui.

“We’re in the midst of summer,” he said. “This is far from over.”

Meanwhile, surf on south shores dropped below advisory levels Wednesday but the waves were still above the seasonal average. Wave faces of 2 to 4 feet are expected Thursday.