With an intense heat dome pitched over the Pacific Northwest, cities from Eugene, Oregon, to Lytton in Canada's British Columbia, saw their hottest temperatures in recorded history on Sunday. Eugene hit 111 degrees, topping its 1981 record of 108; Portland reached 112 degrees, beating its all-time high of 108 degrees from Saturday; and Seattle hit a record 104 degrees Sunday evening. For context, "in recorded history, Seattle has had 5 days of 100+ temperatures," The New York Times' Mike Baker noted. "Two were this weekend. Another may come Monday."
Lytton, about 95 miles northeast of Vancouver, reached 116 degrees on Sunday, which is the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada. Incredibly, meteorologist Eric Holthaus tweeted, "today's 116°F in British Columbia, Canada, is only 1 degree 'cooler' than the all-time high temp record in Las Vegas, Nevada."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Portland is forecast to hit 114 degrees on Monday, while Seattle is expected to reach 110 degrees. Spokane, Washington, is forecast to tie its all-time record of 108 on Sunday and blaze up to 111 degrees on Tuesday. Few people in the typically temperate Pacific Northwest have air conditioning.
-
A crowded field of Democrats is filling up the California governor’s raceIn the Spotlight Over a dozen Democrats have declared their candidacy
-
Nitazene is elusively raising opioid deathsThe explainer The drug is usually consumed accidentally
-
Can medical debt hurt your credit?The explainer The short answer is yes, though it depends on the credit scoring mode
-
Blue Origin launches Mars probes in NASA debutSpeed Read The New Glenn rocket is carrying small twin spacecraft toward Mars as part of NASA’s Escapade mission
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
Dinosaurs were thriving before asteroid, study findsSpeed Read The dinosaurs would not have gone extinct if not for the asteroid
-
Canyons under the Antarctic have deep impactsUnder the radar Submarine canyons could be affecting the climate more than previously thought
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
NASA is moving away from tracking climate changeThe Explainer Climate missions could be going dark
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
