HONOLULU-
For mainlanders sweltering in oppressive heat and humidity, the tropical Hawaiian Islands offers–well–cold comfort.
As the rest of the country continues to boil, the tradewinds and sea breezes of summertime Hawaii keep the islands' atmosphere pleasant, as always.
"The reason why Hawaii isn't suffering a heat wave like the mainland is that we're not in the middle of a continent. We don't have large swaths of land for hot air to move across before it gets to us," said Jeff Powell, lead forecasters for the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
Instead, the island state relies on the ocean to moderate its temperatures, which are currently–and just about always–in the mid-80s, dropping into the 70s at night.
Surrounded by a huge ocean of cool water makes it tough for the islands to ever get very hot, Powell said.
And if the land does heat up, the atmosphere responds to the thermal imbalance by creating sea breezes.
"It doesn't allow areas to just get hot indefinitely," said Powell, noting that the region's tradewinds generally keep the islands relatively cool anyway.
Some 5,000 lawyers with the American Bar Association are in Honolulu this week for a convention, and many are grateful to be escaping the heat wave at home.
"We'd like to take the tradewinds home," said Cheryl Cesario, a Chicago judge.
Frank Seminerio, has been working for the summer in New York City, where he recently couldn't even walk a block without breaking a sweat.
"It's almost cold here compared to what I've been in New York City. Beautiful," he said.
After nearly a week of torturing highs, the East Coast and Midwest appeared to be headed toward relief Thursday. The heat wave is blamed for scattered power outages and at least 22 deaths.
Temperatures hit record levels in several cities including 100 in Newark, N.J., and Baltimore.
