Over the weekend, cities from British Columbia down through Washington and Oregon experienced record-breaking heat.
This is the third time a heat event has hit the Pacific Northwest in two years, as human-caused climate change boosts temperatures ever higher.
It has been nearly a month since the beginning of the astronomical autumn, according to AccuWeather, and winter is fast approaching on the calendar. But for millions across the Pacific Northwest, it still feels like summer.
In Seattle, Washington, not only did Sunday break the daily high record, but it was also the latest 80-degree calendar day ever recorded. The temperature at Sea-Tac Airport hit 88 degrees on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
The record-shattering heat broke Seattle’s previous Oct. 16 record high by a staggering 16 degrees. It was the city’s second-warmest October day in 130 years. The only hotter October day occurred on Oct. 1, 1987, when it was 89 degrees.
Summerlike temperatures also baked Portland, Oregon, which reached a record 86 degrees Sunday, its fifth day in a row in the 80s. On Saturday, it soared to 87, its highest temperature on record so late in the season.
Further to the north, in neighboring British Columbia, Canada, a number of cities boasted the warmest temperatures in Canada on the weekend, according to Global News.
Maximum temperature records were set in 25 B.C. communities on Sunday, including in Port Alberni, the provincial hot spot at 26.3 C (78.8 F), where a 115-year-old record was shattered by three degrees.
Rainfall has nearly been non-existent in the Pacific Northwest region. The relentless heat paired with dry conditions has continued to be an issue for crews battling wildfires across the Pacific Northwest. In British Columbia, many areas of the province have had no rain in October and no significant precipitation since early July, prompting severe drought conditions.
Wildfires in southern B.C. and Washington state, as well as a large blaze in northeastern B.C. that has been burning since the end of August, have created excessive amounts of smoke and poor air quality for the whole region.
Rain is in the forecast – spelling an end to the current stretch of unseasonable warmth, but not until Friday this week. Autumn is expected to arrive in the form of rain, wind, and cooler air.
