Newsman: The projected temperatures for this week were so unusually high — between 115 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit across parts of the Pacific Northwest — that scientists couldn’t believe what the climate models were telling. A historic heat wave smashed all-time records in the Northwest over the past few days, and though some relief is arriving for areas closer to the coast, interior locations will continue to bake in record heat into the July Fourth holiday weekend.
Although not as extreme as the one in the Pacific Northwest, the Northeast is enduring its own heat wave this week.
After hitting at least 90 degrees Monday, temperatures are forecast to remain in the 90s in the big cities of the Northeast through Wednesday. Three days of highs in the 90s officially constitutes a heat wave in the region, according to AccuWeather.
High humidity and light winds add to the heat misery.
In the Willamette Valley south of Portland, Oregon, a farm worker died Saturday at a workplace as temperatures that day hit 104 degrees.
Officials have not yet released details about where the individual was working, who the person was or how exactly he or she died.
An Associate professor at Oregon State University ,Oregon’s state climatologist Larry O’Neill felt something must be off, told NBC .
A review of Oregon and federal OSHA databases on workplace fatalities indicates this was the first reported work-related heat death of a farm worker in Oregon in at least the past two decades. At least two workers in construction and logging died of heat-related illness in Oregon in the past 19 years, according to the databases.
Across the western United States, more than 35 cities tied or set temperature records Monday, with several places shattering their all-time highs. Seattle posted a new record of 108 degrees, 5 degrees hotter than the city’s previous all-time record, and Portland, Oregon, reached a scorching 116 degrees, surpassing the city’s previous milestone by 8 degrees.
Heat contributed to at least four deaths in Bremerton, Washington, on Monday, officials said, where a record-setting heat wave peaked Monday at 110 degrees.
In Bend, Oregon, authorities said the deaths of two homeless people in extreme heat may have been weather-related.
And across the border in Vancouver, Canada, where many homes lack air conditioning, at least 65 sudden deaths were reported by police since Friday.
Temperatures in the Vancouver area reached just under 90 degrees Fahrenheit Monday, but the humidity made it feel close to 104 degrees in areas that aren’t near water, Environment Canada said.
“Vancouver has never experienced heat like this, and sadly dozens of people are dying because of it,” Sgt. Steve Addison said in a news release. “Our officers are stretched thin, but we’re still doing everything we can to keep people safe.”
Environment Canada said the weather system shattered 103 heat records across British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories on Monday. Those records include a new Canadian high temperature of 118 degrees set in Lytton.
In all, British Columbian officials reported at least 130 sudden deaths since this weekend in deaths linked to the historic extreme temperatures, said CNN.
An excessive heat warning is in effect in Philadelphia through Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service said, expecting “dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 105 degrees.”
Forecasts called for temperatures on June 28 to break even more records, followed by some relief as winds from the south to southwest are expected to carry some cooler air inland.
Extraordinary heat events occur around the planet during most summers, but the current heatwave in the Pacific Northwest is truly exceptional. In June 2021, all-time temperature records fell in multiple cities in the U.S. and Canada during a heatwave that the National Weather Service called “historic and dangerous.”
The heat began to build up late last week, and the effect is apparent in this map (above) which shows land surface temperatures on June 25 in Washington. The data show that around noon on that day, surface temperatures in Seattle reached 120°F (49°C), and the worst was yet to come. By June 26, excessive heat warnings were in place across Washington, Oregon, and Northern California.
Data for the map come from NASA’s ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS), which uses a scanning radiometer to measure thermal infrared energy emitted from Earth’s surface. Note that land surface temperatures are not the same as air temperatures: They reflect how hot the surface of the Earth would feel to the touch and can sometimes be significantly hotter or cooler than air temperatures.
The second map shows air temperature anomalies across the continental United States and Canada on June 27, 2021, when the heat intensified and records started to fall. The map is derived from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model and depicts air temperatures at 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) above the ground. Red areas are where air temperatures climbed more than 27°F (15°C) higher than the 2014-2020 average for the same day.
Local ground stations in numerous cities reported all-time-record highs on June 27. Seattle reached 104°F (40°C) that day, the city’s hottest temperature ever recorded on any day of the year. All-time records also fell in Oregon, where Portland reached 112°F (44°C). In Canada, the town of Lytton, British Columbia, hit 116°F (47°C)—the highest temperature on record anywhere in the country on any date. The heat tops Canada’s previous record of 113°F (45°C) set in July 1937 in Yellow Grass and Midale, Saskatchewan.
The heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body when humidity is combined with the air temperature. Most temperatures in the Northeast will feel above 100 because of humidity, said the weather service.
“Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities,” the weather service said.
Seattle set a record of 104 degrees Sunday and broke that Monday with 107 degrees, the World Meteorological Organization said. Portland broke the record twice: 108 on Saturday and 112 on Sunday. Many other records tumbled Monday.
In Dallasport, Washington, the mercury rose to a staggering 118 degrees Monday afternoon, which tied the state’s record high, AccuWeather said.
This heatwave comes on the heels of another historic heat wave less than two weeks ago that baked the desert Southwest and California with hundreds of record highs.
It’s not yet clear how climate change is affecting the jet stream and resulting weather systems, but the consequences of these complex atmospheric perturbations taking place against the backdrop of global warming is well understood.
The effects of extreme heat are similarly being felt around the world. Parts of eastern Europe and Russia are currently baking under record highs, with some Bulgarian cities predicted to reach 104 degrees and temperatures in Siberia soaring to nearly 90 degrees.
Though attributing any specific event to climate change is tricky, scientists say the overall effect of global warming is undeniable, creating conditions that are ripe for heat waves and other extreme weather events.
It’s a trend that is playing out across the country. A national climate assessment conducted in 2018 found that heat waves in the U.S. occurred an average of six times per year in the 2010s, up from an average of two times a year five decades earlier. Average temperatures in the Pacific Northwest have warmed by roughly 1.3 degrees since 1895, according to the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group, and most cities in the region feel more than 2 degrees warmer in the summer than they did in 1970.
The projected temperatures for this week were so unusually high — between 115 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit across parts of the Pacific Northwest — that O’Neill, Oregon’s state climatologist, felt something must be off.
“The predictions seemed completely outlandish,” said O’Neill, an associate professor at Oregon State University. “They were so crazy insane that professional forecasters and people like myself thought something must be wrong with the models.”
