Historic Heat Wave: Portland, Oregon and Seattle see record high temperatures

Seattle

SEATTLE – The Pacific Northwest is baking in a record-breaking heat wave, with an all-time high of 108 degrees Fahrenheit reported in Portland, Oregon on Saturday.

Along the west coast, from the Canadian to the Mexican border, more than 20 million people have come under heat warnings or warnings.

In the Pacific Northwest, unprecedented and dangerous heat will build up for several days, with high temperatures rising into the three-digit range. Hundreds of daily high temperature records are expected to break much of this week.

Monthly June records and all-time records are also possible, especially through Tuesday for some locations. Extreme heat for long periods of time greatly increases the potential for heat-related illness.

I’m trying to cool off in Oregon
Portland International Airport posted a record high of 108 degrees on Saturday, the National Weather Service said. The previous record was 107 – set on August 8 and 10, 1981 and on July 30, 1965.

Visitors and residents gathered along the waterfront and the fountain on Salmon Street on Saturday, reported CNN subsidiary KATU.

At one point a group of naked cyclists drove through, tweeted reporter Dan McCarthy.

“Only in Portland,” he wrote.

“We serve people who already have chronic health problems – all we can do to help people stay safe when they have nowhere else to go,” said Scott Kerman, director of the Blanchett House shelter in Portland .

Nonprofit groups are trying to provide cooling centers to the homeless in Portland and other Oregon cities.

CNN subsidiary KOBI reported that the Medford Senior Center offered food, water and cold drinks.

Medford Senior Center volunteers said this type of shelter is vital to the community.

“Great, it’s great. God bless you, man,” Richard William Harris, who has been navigating heat and cold for about 30 years, told the station. “I’m just glad you’re here because I definitely needed it and I don’t want to die of heat stroke. If it weren’t for this place, I don’t know what I would do. “

The Oregon Health Department lifted capacity limits for Covid-19 in pools, movie theaters and shopping malls to help people beat the heat.

Seattle sets a Sunday record

At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the thermometer reached 102 on Saturday afternoon, just behind the record of 103 on July 29, 2009, said the weather service.

Later in the day, temperatures reach a whopping 104 degrees, breaking the city’s all-time high.

While the peak of the heat is expected by Tuesday for most locations, temperatures are expected to remain well above average for much of this week and possibly through the weekend of July 4th.

The low of 73 degrees also broke the record for the maximum low temperature – which was 72 degrees on July 29, 2009, said the weather service.

The average high temperature for Seattle this time of year is 73.