High pressure dome bakes Northwest in unprecedented heat wave

SEATTLE — Portland, Ore., broke its all-time heat record on Saturday. It then broke it again on Sunday, registering a temperature of 112 degrees Fahrenheit  — besting the record set a day earlier by 4 degrees.

Seattle, known nationally for its mild weather and rainy days, hit 104 degrees on Sunday and was back over 100 on Monday. The National Weather Service said the sweltering temps set all-time records for the city and marked the first time the area recorded two consecutive triple digit days since records began being kept in 1894.

The temperatures were unheard of in a region better known for rain, and where June has historically been referred to as “Juneuary” for its cool drizzle. Seattle’s average high temperature in June is around 70 and fewer than half of the city’s residents have air conditioning, according to federal data.

The heat forced schools and businesses to close to protect workers and guests, including some places like outdoor pools and ice cream shops where people seek relief from the heat.

“We unfortunately are unable to open up shop today due to the extreme heat,” Cloud City Ice Cream, in Portland, posted on its Facebook page over the weekend. “Temperatures are too high for our employees and equipment to operate safely.”

The cause is a “heat dome” that has affected parts of the West for about two weeks. Justin Pullin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle, said a strong ridge of high pressure is causing temperatures more associated with Arizona than the Northwest.

“The heat that we’ve experienced over the last couple days … is highly unusual and has been historic. We’re talking all time temperature records that are being broken, in some cases by 5, 10 degrees,” Pullin said.

In Portland, light rail and street car service was suspended as power cables melted and as the heat strained the power grid.

On Interstate 5 in Tukwila, Wash., heat-related expansion of the roadway caused a panel of pavement to pop loose. Workers in tanker trucks in Seattle were hosing down drawbridges with water at least twice a day to keep them cool to prevent the steel from expanding and interfering with their opening and closing mechanisms.

In Multnomah County, Ore., which includes Portland, nearly 60 outreach teams have worked since Friday to reach homeless people with water, electrolytes and information on keeping cool, said county spokeswoman Julie Sullivan-Springhetti.

The county had 43 emergency department and urgent care clinic visits for heat illness from Friday to Sunday. Typically, there would be just one or two, Sullivan-Springhetti said.

In many cities in the region, officials opened cooling centers, including one in an Amazon meeting space in Seattle capable of holding 1,000 people.

The heat wave stretched into the Canadian province of British Columbia, with the temperature in the village of Lytton reaching 115 F Sunday afternoon, marking a new all-time high recorded in Canada.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2SwkDcm