PNW Folks - YouLookFab Forum

Greyscale

I was just thinking of this too. I know the heat wave we had in normally-cool SF last year was viscerally distressing - not just the heat itself, but how it seemed like a harbinger. I hope you’re all staying safe and as comfortable as possible.

4 years ago

Inge

(website)

Moderator

Yes! I really hope everyone is doing OK! Just thinking about that kind of heat makes me unhappy :-((

4 years ago

nuancedream

Veteran

I had to go to my office yesterday in Renton, WA because my condo was just too hot for me even with a portable air conditioner. It was 91 degrees when I left for work at 8:30 am. By the time, I left work at 5pm, it was 116 degrees!! Also, I have an autoimmune condition that makes me very heat intolerant so the last few days have been sheer misery. The weather is cooler today but still above average for the Seattle area. I am fearful of more abnormally hot days coupled with the likelihood of wildfires.

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

We also watching with concern. This geographer has a question—what’s the name for the part of Canada that borders on the Pacific NW called? Vancouver & other parts of BC are having record high temps too. I know there was an attempt to create a country out of parts of BC, Washington, and Oregon, but can’t remember what it was called. Is that name the appropriate term for the area having the heat wave?

Nuance, please keep checking in to let us know you’re ok—those temps are tough enough for anyone!

ETA found my own answer: Cascadia! Is anyone using that term for the region with the heatwave? https://www.cascadianow.org/

4 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

My son is in Portland,recovering from surgery. I've been worried about him, but he's doing ok. Today he has his post-op follow up. Hoping they remove his drains and he can go back home to Ashland where it isn't so hot.
Stay safe, everyone !

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Chewy, we’ve heard that about half of homes there don’t have AC—do health care facilities also not have it? That’s alarming.

4 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

FI- his surgery was out patient (as most procedures in the US are now days, it seems).

4 years ago

SarahD8

Veteran

FI, yes, Cascadia is definitely still a current term! (Sometimes I sing the beginning of the Canadian national anthem in my head with "Cascadia" replacing "O Canada") Although my understanding is that the heat dome extends significantly farther east and north in Canada, beyond the area that I would consider Cascadia.

Thanks for asking after us, Jenn. Here in our new sunny 3-storey townhome (vs our previous dark 1-storey rambler) we're very glad that the end of the heat wave is near. Temps dropped almost 40 degrees overnight enabling us to cool the house down significantly, so even though it's supposed to be 90 today it should be more bearable inside. I celebrated by running the dishwasher and doing multiple loads of laundry, haha.

4 years ago

Cardiff girl

Veteran

I can’t imagine attempting to lead a normal life in this level of heat.l hope it cools down abit for you all soon.

4 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

I’ve seen the pictures of the roads rupturing! I’m doing heat safety this week at the bakery. Here’s a link on precautions and so forth: https://www.osha.gov/heat

I think it’s a good idea to have pedialyte pops. Stay safe everybody!

4 years ago

Classically Casual

Veteran

The temperature numbers were jaw dropping. At least for Western WA which includes Seattle, we’re back to more normal weather today.
The hardest part for me was reading online about the baby birds still in their nests or bird boxes who perished in the heat yesterday. We tried to keep cool water available for the critters, but I fear there was a big toll on the animals. It’s scary.

4 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Oh, yes, it was unbelievably hot yesterday in the Greater Victoria area— temp reached 41C (105 F) in our shaded(!) yard just a few blocks from the ocean—given our normal at this time of the year should be 18-20C. Only a few buildings have AC so it was hard to escape that ferocious heat. Fortunately today has cooled somewhat to 30C which would be considered a sweltering summer day in past years.

And, just as an aside for FI, most of the inhabitants of this area refer to the coastal part of BC as the Pacific Northwest. “Cascadia” can be a loaded term for Canadians because it was adopted in the 90s by a relatively small group of disaffected people who promoted the idea of amalgamation of PNW territories into a totally separate country. Needless to say, the idea never caught on in either the US or Canada, although there have been historically close ties between people on either side of the Canada/US border for decades—both here and in other areas of our two countries.

Right now, the border has been closed for non-essential travel between Canada and the US for over a year— and Canada is more reluctant to open it than the the US. For that reason, I’d say talking about the heat wave in the Pacific Northwest might be the “cooler” term given that the weather is providing more than enough heat at the moment

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Gaylene and Sarah, thank you for the explanations. I was thinking that NORTHwest was too centered on the USA, so wanted a more neutral term. You make it clear that “Cascadia” is not neutral.

4 years ago

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I'm glad to hear so many of you doing well and that the worst of it (for now, at least) is over. When we lived in Seattle, we were lucky to have AC (in the form of a heat pump) in our house, but I know it wasn't common, and even many businesses didn't have it. And even the hottest summer temps we encountered were only in the upper 80s! The temperatures you all experienced over the past few days really could be described as a natural disaster.

Fashintern, "Pacific Northwest" also refers to the northwest coast of the continent as a whole. I certainly didn't intend it as excluding members in British Columbia!

4 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

OMG, it was so hot it fried some of the plants on my deck, despite preventative measures. The leaves look like kale chips -- no joke!! We are okay because our house has heat exchange so it was in the high twenties indoors, which actually felt bearable compared to the outside.

The only person in our family who is happy is our cat! He loves it.

4 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks, Jenn.

IT HAS BEEN HECTIC. Record breaking in downtown Seattle where we live for three straight days. Highest temperature EVER recorded here yesterday. 42C/110F. We do not have a/c in our loft ....and Seattle is not geared up for this type of heat. Insane heatwave. The four of us were melting.

The temperature broke at 3am last night, thank goodness. Temperature dropped 25 degrees in Celsius. Today it's 31C - which is still hot, but soooooo much better than 42C.

We can breathe again....

4 years ago

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

Angie, I remember when we had a 112° day followed by 114° last summer. When the temp dropped back to the 90s, it almost felt chilly! So bizarre.

Suz, I have had that happen to plants on my roof here. Especially ones with big leaves!

4 years ago

Echo

Veteran

What a scary heat wave. Olympic trials had to be postponed, and at least one athlete collapsed in the heat. The news told us that in Portland, OR (I think), there had previously only been three days in the past 100 years over 38 C, and they just had three in a row. Sadly, heat can be as deadly as cold sometimes, and with our changing climate, places that were once temperate may become less and less so as time goes on. Stay safe everyone!

4 years ago

Sal

Veteran

That's extreme - wow. Very hard to function (and impossible for the plants).

Scary stuff indeed.

4 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Well, just to put my complaining in perspective, Lytton, B.C., has broken the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada for a third straight day, hitting a scorching 49.6 C (121 F) on Tuesday.

Lytton, a village in the Fraser Canyon, is located about 260 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, and also saw record-breaking highs of 47.9 Con Monday and 46. 6 C on Sunday. Before this week, the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada was 45 C in Saskatchewan in 1937.

So much for living in northern country…

4 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

That is INSANE about Lytton, Gaylene. Just nuts!

4 years ago

anne

Veteran

I heard about Lytton Gaylene, and logged in just to check on all of you who live in the region.

Much Empathy!

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Angie, thanks for the good news that the heat spell is breaking in Seattle. I’ve thought about your loft, with those great big windows with gorgeous views, over the past few days. Looks like the cool front is taking its time moving across the area—Lytton is predicted to have a high of 106 today before highs drop into the 90s for a few days.

Jenn, I didn’t intend any shade on you or comment on your usage, was just asking about a term. If Canadians are fine with “Northwest”, that’s what I’ll go with. I just checked out temps where my friend in Alaska lives—fortunately, the high temps don’t extend all the way up there.

4 years ago

Anonymous

Wow- that sounds awful! Glad to hear that heat is finally breaking. I saw pics of siding melting off houses and roads buckling and such :/

4 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I have been thinking of all of you in the PNW -- it's crazy hot, and truly concerning.

A radio host I listen to posted a survey today, asking whether listeners believe this heatwave is an abberation or a sign of the new climate reality. So far it looks like the voting is 86% people believing this is the new reality (and this is not a super-progressive radio program). Sadly, I agree with that perspective.

Take care, everyone!

4 years ago

Anonymous

I'm eyeing the western sky suspiciously right now - only partly kidding here. The heat situation is beyond my comprehension, and I hope to keep it that way - while having SO much sympathy for my fellow Canadians , and PNW residents. I can't imagine that any run of the mill air conditioner could keep up with that kind of heat anyways - and it makes me SO worried for older people living alone, those without homes etc. The number of heat related deaths reported in Vancouver yesterday was sickening. We're feeling the effects here this week, with temps consistently in the 30's .

Google is a great resource for determining proper geographical names and terms, btw...

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

LisaP, given all that’s been written about toponyms, sometimes just asking really is the better way to find out the situation on the ground. Instead of debating terms, let’s keep the focus on people in this region. Melting street car lines are no joke!

4 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

We drove to the SF Bay yesterday and it’s cool here. Looking out the window right now, it looks like fog! I adore fog. On NPR we heard about the heat dome, etc. The scientist said it was a 1,000 year event, or possibly a 10,000 year event. He said it relates to the February cold event in Texas in that both had been caused by an an extra wiggly jet stream.

At home we were very hot - 103 on Monday. We don’t usually get this hot until July or August. Thankfully we have AC. Several years ago an AC expert told me that AC (around here anyway) is designed to cool the building by 20 degrees.

4 years ago

Eliza

Veteran

Glad the heat wave is taking a break and hope it lasts. Also hope everyone has ways to be comfortable and can accommodate those menacing temperatures by moderating exposure and exertion.

4 years ago

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