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The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning
for northwest Oregon on Thursday, with forecasts in some inland
areas running as high as 110 F (43 C).
Portland is likely to experience its eighth straight day of
temperatures above 90 degrees this weekend, a standard that has
been reached only four times on record, with three of those in
the past 13 years, the Oregonian reported on Thursday.
"AC (air conditioning) is definitely a must now," said Jack
Hogan, 28, a Portland man who has had to give up or cut short
his daily sun bathing. "Once it gets over 90 (32 C), my body
just starts to overheat after a little while in the sun."
The June 2021 heat wave killed more than 100 people in Oregon,
in addition to 619 in the western Canadian province of British
Columbia. Officials in the region said many victims lacked air
conditioning, which is less common here than in places with
historically hotter climates.
Much of the United States has experienced extreme heat in recent
days, which scientists say is exacerbated by climate change.
About 100 people took refuge in one Portland cooling center on
Wednesday night, said Mark Meininger, part of the volunteer
emergency team.
Meininger said the prolonged, lower-level heat this year might
be more difficult for emergency managers and the public to
contend with than last year's extreme levels, when dozens of
cities smashed record temperatures.
"Last year we just had record-setting, blasting heat," Meininger
said. "What we have this year is an odd, cumulative consequence
of hot weather that slowly gets people to realize they need to
get out of the heat."
(Reporting by Matt McKnight; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing
by Bradley Perrett)
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