Pacific Northwest swelters in historic heat wave

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SARA CLINE and REBECCA BOONE

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Government officials, wildlife managers and utility workers across the Pacific Northwest were trying to keep people and animals safe as a historic heat wave scorched the region Saturday.

The heat was expected to break all-time records in cities and towns from eastern Washington state to Portland to southern Oregon, with temperatures in many areas expected to top out up to 30 degrees above normal. It’s a dangerous forecast for a region accustomed to mild weather, and where many people don’t have air conditioning.

The hot weather had berry farmers scrambling to pick crops before they rot on the vine and fisheries managers working to keep endangered sockeye salmon safe from too-warm river water. Stores sold out of portable air conditioners and fans, some hospitals canceled outdoor vaccination clinics, cities opened cooling centers, baseball teams canceled or moved up weekend games, and utilities braced for possible power outages.

In western Washington, morning temperatures felt warmer than they were because of a higher-than-normal dew point, the National Weather Service in Seattle wrote on Twitter. A higher dew point makes the air more muggy or uncomfortable. Seattle was expected to edge above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) over the weekend and in Portland, Oregon, weather forecasters said the thermometer could soar to 108 F (42 C) by Sunday, breaking an all-time record of 107 F (42 C) set in 1981. Unusually hot weather was expected to extend into next week for much of the region.



People gather at the Sandy River Delta, in Ore., to cool off during the start of what should be a record-setting heat wave on June 25, 2021. The Pacific Northwest sweltered Friday as a historic heat wave hit Washington and Oregon, with temperatures in many areas expected to top out 25 to 30 degrees above normal in the coming days. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/heat-waves-fires-wildfires-environment-and-nature-2d15c637c00e15862b592cf0d26638cd

[BadGimp]

1. It's 104 right outside my door...

Could be worse, I could live in Phoenix.

[pnwmom]

3. But people in Phoenix usually have AC. People in Seattle don't. n/t

[Aristus]

4. I live in Puyallup, and I have A/C.

When we first bought our house here, we loved all the skylights in the ceilings. They made for a bright, sunny, cheery home. Then summer arrived, and all the skylights became conduits for solar heat that made the house unbearably hot. We sweltered through a few summers before finally getting the bright idea to have retractable sun-awnings installed over the skylights. That made summers a little better, but we finally broke down and had A/C installed about seven years ago. Right now, it's a life-saver.

[pnwmom]

5. This is our third house, all three built by previous owners,

and this is the first one that just happened to have central air.

Thank goodness, because I doubt we would have put it in ourselves.

We had an old room air conditioner we didn't need anymore, and we passed it along to someone who could use it. Fortunately, it will work with their window type. (As you know, that can also be a problem in the Seattle area.)

Stay cool!

[Sewa]

2. 107 at 5 pm where I live E Washington

😎

[Angleae]

6. 93 in Everett at 9PM

[roamer65]

7. Just wait until we hit 1000ppm GHG's.

It’s coming sooner than we think.

[NickB79]

9. 10 yr ago we'd be called doomers for even entertaining such things

God, I miss the good old days.

[roamer65]

15. Sad, isn't it?

Glad I’m not a young person. Imagine what they are going to have to see and endure.

I don’t wanna be around for it.

[NickB79]

18. Yeah, I'm 41. My family is pretty long lived

I've still got two grandparents in their late 80's and going strong, two others died around 90. Same with great grandparents; my great grandfather lived to 97. All hard-working German farmer stock we are. So I figure I've got some time left if I keep taking care of myself.

My daughter is only 11 though. She's got an idea of what's coming too (she follows Greta Thunberg on YouTube). That's what hits me the hardest.

[roamer65]

19. Smart daughter!

[mommymarine2003]

8. 105 at our house in the Portland area.

With the added humidity, the heat index went up to 107. It is like an oven outside. I am a transplanted Washingtonian (Go Cougs!). My sister outside of Spokane had a high of 99. My youngest lives in Seattle, but I haven't had the final update from him yet. Tomorrow our area is supposed to get to 110 or higher. I am thankful that we have air conditioning.

[IronLionZion]

12. Humidity should help avoid wildfires

that's a big problem in other parts of the west

[GulfCoast66]

10. Never dreamed that Florida might become among the coolest places in summer!

With oceans on either side of us this time of the year the sea breezes kick up and we get rain daily over the peninsula. The highest I saw at my house today was 87. Cloudy most of the day and rain in the afternoon and a little more in the evening. AC has not kicked on for an hour or more as it’s 75 outside. Will be pretty much the same until September. We usually get a spell in August with little rain and the heat gets bad. And late May is often bad. Was this year. The sea breezes had not cranked up yet and highs were in the mid 90’s.

I hope these folks get relief soon. Not only do they not have AC they are not used to heat. I like the heat but over 100 is crazy.

[pnwmom]

11. Don't count on anything being usual from now on. Seattle's usual few days of 90 degree

weather is in August.

Up till now Seattleites didn't really consider it summer till after the 4th of July, which has historically been cool and rainy, more often than not.

[GulfCoast66]

13. We are actually getting more rainy days, or it seems in my mind.

Used to be, back in the 80’s summer days started clear and by mid afternoon the thunderstorm started building. Now, it often cloudy in the morning and raining by noon. And it’s not a one time deal but kind of sticks around. Not always but for weeks at a time. I chalk it up to the increased heat and oceans within 80 miles on both sides.

But it has made the summer evenings more pleasant. We eat outside almost every night. But I will say many Americans would not find our idea of nice as ideal. We’ve found over the past 30 years the best defense of Florida’s heat is to spend as much time outside as possible. So when I go into a 78 degree house it feels cold. When we ate tonight it was probably 84. We had the fan going and it felt nice. Granted, my neighbors think we are crazy in their 73 degree homes. But we have a 3000 square foot home and our last power bill was $140. I have friends who pay $300.

On the other hand, we used to get below freezing almost every year. And once or twice in the high 20’s. I think 09 was the last time we had a hard freeze here.

[pnwmom]

14. I don't think you're crazy at all. 78 is (or was) a typical high for Seattle in the summer

and most people were surviving it without air-conditioning. On warmer days we opened up the house at night, used fans to pull in outside air, and then in the morning we closed everything up and shut the blinds, to keep the house cool as long as possible.

[pfitz59]

16. 102 at my home in Seattle

Supposed to be even hotter next 2 days.

[LiberalLovinLug]

17. Vancouver is quite toasty too.

But climate change is fake news.

[DFW]

20. Looks like Kipling was wrong. East isn't East after all, and West isn't West either.

My wife and I are heading for the USA on Friday, and I looked at the weather forecast for where we are going (the outer tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts). Mid-70s (F) and rain for the first week we are there. Sounds more like what I'd expect in Seattle!

[yellowdogintexas]

21. just looked at my thermometer 88 degrees in Fort Worth

at 1:45 which is the beginning of the hottest part of the day. Humidity is 50%
A cooler than normal summer is predicted here. Heck, we may even get a little day/night differential here. When it is really hot here, the temperature does not go down much at night.

(in the Mid-South the humidity would be at least 70% It's like walking into a wall.)

[CountAllVotes]

22. 63 degrees

In northern California right now.

Not far from the beach I should add.

[yaesu]

23. We had a months worth of rain in 2 days here, feeling like a shroom. nt