Isles heat up, setting record temperatures for a week

It was hotter than usual last week — record-­setting hot — and it’s not even summer yet.

The National Weather Service reported record-breaking high temperatures on at least one Hawaiian isle for seven consecutive days ending Friday.

Kahului, Maui, recorded the highest temperature on Wednesday at 96 degrees, beating the previous record of 92 degrees in 2014. It was the highest all-time temperature for May in Kahului and the second highest all-time high for any month, the Weather Service said. The hottest recorded temperature for the Central Maui town is 97 degrees, which occurred in August 1994 and 2015.

Kahului temperatures hovered in the 90s and exceeded previous highs at least six times over the last week, including on Friday.

“This is a record event,” said NWS meteorologist Derek Wroe.

Wroe said a confluence of three factors — disruption of tradewinds, higher than normal ocean temperatures due to El Nino and higher moisture — contributed to the staggering heat and humidity experienced across the state.

The shift in trades, which came from the east-­southeast instead of the northwest, means cooling winds were blocked from reaching certain areas, including Honolulu and Kahului, he said. Usually, these shifts do not last long, but this one did. The heat index, a measure of how hot it actually feels when relative humidity is factored in with actual air temperature, spiked to over 100 degrees in Kahului and parts of Oahu, according to Wroe.

Fortunately, trades are expected to return, said forecasters, but will drop slightly on Memorial Day through Wednesday.

Recent temperatures in the 90s beat previous records from as far back as 41 years ago. On Monday, the temperature in Kahului reached 93 degrees, beating the previous record of 91 in 1978. On Thursday, temperatures in Kahului shot up to 95 degrees, hotter than the previous record of 92 in 1996.

A record high of 94 degrees was once again set in Kahului on Friday, breaking the old record of 90 set in 2013. A record high of 90 degrees was set in Honolulu on Friday, tying with the old record from 1979.

On Maui, lines formed at Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice shops in Kahului, Kihei and Lahaina.

“We were definitely busier than normal, for sure,” said owner David Yamashiro. “It’s been really hot, and, of course, hot weather is definitely shave ice weather.”

At the Maui Humane Society in Puunene, spokeswoman Nancy Willis said volunteers and staff were working to keep animals comfortable in the heat. She said the cats have air-conditioned shelter and dogs in outdoor kennels have shade, with fans at the back.

Thankfully, an afternoon “doggie play group” program provided the canines with an opportunity to cool off in kiddie pools.

“We do everything we can to keep them comfortable,” said Willis.

On Friday, Brittany Moreno-Sajor, owner of Cream B Maui, a food truck selling hand-rolled ice cream, made the unusual move of setting up shop indoors due to the heat. She was serving ice cream at The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas in Kaanapali as part of associate appreciation week. It was just too hot to work out of the truck, she said.

Wroe said it would be difficult to predict whether last week’s record temperatures could repeat in the months ahead. Summer officially begins June 21.

“It’s certainly possible,” he said.