Heat wave to drag on through the weekend, forecasters warn

The heat wave that has Olympia and the rest of the Northwest sweating continues to extend itself, with no relief in sight now until Monday, according to forecasters.

Heat wave duration records could be broken and authorities are expanding capacity at some of the region’s cooling centers as temperatures near triple digits are forecast to extend into the weekend.

“For the next several days through Saturday we’re going to be within a few degrees of 100 every day,” said Colby Neuman, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Portland.

High temperatures in Olympia are forecast to remain between 92 and 97 degrees through Sunday, with Saturday now expected to be the hottest day ahead. Temperatures are expected to continue to drop into the upper 50s at night.

Olympia’s record highs are expected to remain out of reach, with 2009’s all-time highs for July 28 and 29 set at 101 and 104 degrees.

Keylee Marineau, Thurston County’s Homeless Response Program Manager, said the cooling center set up at 201 Capitol Way N., has been successful so far.

“Tons of donations have come in,” Marineau said. “It’s pretty amazing but that happens often with other hazardous weather events.”

The cooling center caters to individuals living outside. Marineau said there were 26 people at the center on Tuesday and 43 on Wednesday, and she expects more to arrive in subsequent days as word spreads about the center.

Interfaith Works has gathered enough volunteers to keep the cooling center open through Saturday, Marineau said. However, they are still trying to get enough staff to keep it open on Sunday as well.

Thurston County initially declared a three-day hazardous weather event ending on Thursday, when the heat wave was initially supposed to lose steam by the weekend. Now, the National Weather Service has extended excessive heat warnings through Saturday evening.

However, while officials in Seattle and Portland have issued air quality advisories through Saturday because smog could reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups, Olympia’s air quality has remained good.

Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts.

The duration of the heat wave puts Portland “in the running” for tying its longest streak of six consecutive days of 95 degrees or higher, Neuman said. People in Portland’s iconic food cart industry are among those who have shut down as sidewalks sizzle.

Rico Loverde, the chef and owner of the food cart Monster Smash Burgers, said the temperature inside his cart is generally 20 degrees hotter than the outdoor temperature, making it 120 degrees inside his tiny business this week.

Loverde said he closes down if it reaches above 95 degrees because his refrigerators overheat and shut down. Last week, even with slightly cooler temperatures in the mid-90s, Loverde got heat stroke from working in his cart for hours, he said.

“It hurts; it definitely hurts. I still pay my employees when we’re closed like this because they have to pay the bills too, but for a small business it’s not good,” he said Tuesday.

Residents and officials in the Northwest have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heat waves following last summer’s deadly “heat dome” weather phenomenon that prompted record temperatures and deaths in late June.

About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during that heat wave.

Other regions of the U.S. often experience temperatures of 100 degrees. But in regions like the Pacific Northwest, people are not as acclimated to the heat, said Craig Crandall, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

“There’s a much greater risk for individuals in areas such as the Northwest to have higher instances of heat-related injuries and death,” Crandall said.

Olympian reporter Martin Bilbao, The Associated Press and Report for America contributed to this report.

This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 12:36 PM.