Cooling centers open in U.S. Pacific Northwest ahead of
'life-threatening heat'
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[June 26, 2021]
By Sergio Olmos
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) -Cooling centers
began opening across the U.S. Pacific Northwest on Friday as local
officials warned of "life-threatening heat" in the coming days that
could shatter high-temperature records.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued excessive heat warnings and
watches across nearly all of Oregon and Washington state, along with
parts of California and Idaho, telling residents that the punishing
conditions could be fatal.
"This is life-threatening heat," Jennifer Vines, health officer for
Multnomah County in Oregon, said in a statement. "People need to find
someplace cool to spend time during the coming days."
Multnomah County, which includes Portland, plans to open three cooling
centers this weekend, including one at the Oregon Convention Center. The
city is home to some 650,000 people.
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"I've never seen it this hot in Portland. Having lived in California,
this is hot," said Oscar Suarez, a 31-year-old chef at Rose City Futsal,
an indoor soccer venue and pub in Portland.
Cooling centers have also been opened in parts of California and
elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest as the heatwave gripped the region.
Temperatures have soared due to a high-pressure dome that has built over
the upper northwestern United States and Canada, the NWS said, similar
to the atmospheric conditions that punished California and U.S.
Southwestern states earlier this month.
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![](../images/062621pics/news_g33.jpg)
A dog cools-off with his head out a car's window at the beach as a
heatwave gripped Oceanside, California, U.S., June 17, 2021.
REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Eric McLeod, a 41-year-old flooring contractor, said
the brutal weather was already making his job more difficult.
"The extra heat means we have to slow down, focus on self-care and
put our health above the push to produce," McLeod said. McLeod said
his business, Coastal Flooring, would also take time to help provide
shade and water to the vulnerable.
Experts say extreme weather events such as the late-spring heatwaves
that have descended on parts of the United States this year can't be
linked directly to climate change.
But more unusual weather patterns could become more common amid
rising global temperatures, NWS meteorologist Eric Schoening told
Reuters in an interview last week.
(Reporting by Sergio Olmos in Portland; Writing and additional
reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Paul Simao)
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