Temperate Northwest gets blasted with intense heat

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — Forecasts for triple-digit heat have caused a minor panic across the Pacific Northwest, a region famous for cool weather where many people do not have air conditioning to help them endure the rare furnace-like blast.

In normally temperate Oregon and Washington, families generally get by on warm days by simply drawing shades and running fans. But a searing high-pressure system is expected to make Portland and Seattle hotter than Phoenix, at least for a couple of days.

Many concerned communities have opened cooling centers and warned residents to stay hydrated, avoid strenuous activity and keep their dogs out of parked vehicles.

The National Weather Service slightly dialed back its forecast for Portland to match or break its record high of 107 degrees. Meteorologist David Bishop said the city is now looking at 104 or 105 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday.

“With little to no cloud cover at night, the higher temperatures kind of hang around a little bit,” Mr. Bishop said. That creates a cycle in which “the next day is going to be a little bit warmer because we’re already starting off warmer than the previous day.”

The latest forecast for Seattle also showed predicted highs easing a bit from earlier predictions. The weather service said the high for Wednesday would be 91 degrees and 94 on Thursday.

The Northwest is better known for its fall, winter and spring rainy seasons. Even July and August are relatively mild months. But the powerful high-pressure system arrived just at the height of summer.

Portland’s light-rail trains are operating at slower speeds amid concern that the heat will cause tracks to expand and risk a derailment. In exchange for the slow service, fare inspectors are not checking riders for tickets.

Forecasters had warned that Seattle could see its highest temperatures since the 1890s. The city has recorded only three days at 100 degrees or higher in the more than a century, according to the weather service.

The Pacific Northwest’s largest city opened about 30 cooling centers in air-conditioned libraries and senior centers. Seattle officials also encouraged people to use more than two dozen wading pools and spray parks.

Outside an Amazon warehouse in Kent, Wash., hundreds of people lined up in a hot parking lot for a job fair, waiting to enter an air conditioned tent to check in. One potential applicant left after being told he couldn’t leave his dog in his car, even with the windows open.