Records fall as U.S. Northwest swelters under multiday heat wave
Global News
Temperatures aren't expected to cool in western Oregon and Washington until the weekend.
Free transportation to cooling centers and garbage pickup well before sunrise were among the steps being taken in the Pacific Northwest as the region hit the peak of a multiday heatwave.
In Portland, temperatures soared to 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 Celsius) in Oregon’s largest city on Tuesday, which was expected to be the hottest day of a scorching spell that will be unusually long for this part of the United States.
It was also a new daily record for the city for July 26, besting the previous mark set in 2020.
Seattle also reported a new all-time daily high of 94 F (34.4 C), breaking the previous record of 92 F (33.3 C) from 2018, according to the National Weather Service.
Elsewhere in Washington state, record daily temperatures were also registered in Bellingham and the capital, Olympia, which experienced 90 F (32.2 C) and 97 F (36.1 C) respectively.
Oregon governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency across much of the state, warning that extreme temperatures may cause utility outages and transportation disruptions.
Temperatures aren’t expected to cool in western Oregon and Washington until the weekend.
Under the sweltering heat, Matthew Carr spent his lunch break in a fountain in downtown Portland. The 57-year-old works outside picking up trash for the city and had to find a way to cool off.