Pacific Northwest swelters in historic heat wave

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 toowarm 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 over the weekend and in Portland, Oregon, weather forecasters said the thermometer could soar to 108 degrees by Sunday, breaking an all- time record of 107 degrees set in 1981. Unusually hot weather was expected to extend into next week for much of the region.

Seattle has only hit 100 three times in recorded history, the National Weather Service said, and there was a chance it could eclipse the record of 103 on Monday.