Hotter than Atlanta has ever been: The mind-boggling numbers of Seattle's historic heat wave
SEATTLE - The superlatives surrounding this historic Northwest heat wave have been coming fast and numerous. Seattle and Portland set all-time record high temperatures Sunday, then topped them all again on Monday. In some cases, the records are being broken by several degrees!
For a handful of cities, the heat is something even those in much hotter climates have never experienced before!
Seattle reached 108 degrees Monday on the heels of their then-record 104 degrees on Sunday and 102-degree Saturday. That means Seattle now has had a day as hot or hotter than temperatures ever recorded in Chicago (105), Atlanta (106), New York City (106), and Washington DC (106) for their hottest days on record.
Portland residents can already brag (or commiserate) about being high on that list, having reached 112 degrees on Sunday then zooming past that to 116 degrees Monday!
(Also of note, Forks reached 110 Monday while Hoquiam reached 103 Sunday which puts them hotter than the all-time high temperature reached ever recorded in New Orleans (102) or Miami (100)! )
Could the Washington State record have company? Perhaps. The town of Dallesport unofficially reached 118 degrees, which would tie the hottest temperature ever recorded in state with Ice Harbor Dam on Aug. 5, 1961 and Wahluke on July 24, 1928. A gauge on the Sol Duc River near Olympic National Park also reported an unofficial temperature of 118.
Just across the border in British Columbia, the temperature in Lytton reached 116 degrees Sunday not just obliterating their all time record, or even the all time British Columbia record -- but the ENTIRE NATION of Canada's all-time heat record! Then they went and BEAT IT AGAIN on Monday reaching at least 117 degrees!
Some of the other super heat superlatives?
* The weather balloon launch from Forks Monday morning recorded some of the highest temperatures ever seen from a balloon launched from there. The thermometer registered 29.2C at the 850 millibar level -- or 85 degrees F at 5,000 feet. Previous all time records were around 25 C.
* Speaking of Forks, they went on to absolutely obliterate all its heat records, reaching 110 degrees Monday afternoon! Its old all-time record high was 99. This, coming for the town that leads the Lower 48 in annual rainfall (just over 99 inches per year) and essentially leads the nation in number of rainy days a year. Now it can brag it's been hotter than Houston has ever been. Forks' smashing of its all time record by 11 degrees may have also set a record in itself.
* Seattle has now reached 100 degrees on three consecutive days (102 Saturday, 104 Sunday, and 107 Monday) for the first time in its recorded history going back to 1894. Seattle reached 100 before noon on Monday – first time for that too, as you might surmise.
* Seattle set its all-time warmest low temperature Sunday morning with a temperature of 73. It was expected to be broken again Monday morning but the temperature managed to dip to 72 at the airport, despite widespread readings in the upper 70s and low 80s across the rest of the Seattle area.
* Several other towns around Western Washington set all time records Monday, including Olympia (109), Tacoma (110), Bremerton (110), Bellingham (99), Port Angeles (98) and Forks' aforementioned 110.
But the heat wave was finally set to wrap up Monday evening with a cooling push of marine air set to drop temperatures some 40 degrees by Monday night. Though temperatures are expected to remain above normal through the Independence Day Holiday.
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