Mother Nature Cranking Up the Heat Out West

Posted: July 4, 2023 7:10 am

A heat dome is forming over the West Coast of the U.S, threatening to challenge some daily high records in the Pacific Northwest and the Desert Southwest in the coming days. Here is what you need to know about this potentially dangerous heat.

Washington, Oregon, and Northern California Dealing with Unseasonably Warm Weather

Mother Nature is dialing up the thermostat across much of the Northwest, ushering in a hot Independence Day and beyond. The mercury will climb well above average temperatures for early July just in time for the holiday. While dry conditions will be a welcome arrival for fireworks celebrations, the heat could pose difficulties for a corner of the country not accustomed to readings this warm.

A northward bulge in the jet stream is the culprit behind the formation of a heat dome over the Pacific Northwest. The unseasonably hot weather will extend as far north as British Columbia, Canada in the coming days. In the U.S., the epicenter of the heat will focus on Washington state, Oregon, and Northern California.

The heat will be the worst on Tuesday and Wednesday with forecasters warning about temperatures that will trend about 10 to 20 degrees above the historical average for early July. Daily high records could fall in an area stretching from Medford, Oregon and up into the southwestern corner of British Columbia.

Hot Days Ahead for Seattle and Portland

The Interstate 5 corridor will experience the most searing heat. This includes the cities of Portland and Seattle. Heat advisories are currently in place by the National Weather Service (NWS) for portions of Northern California and Oregon.

Portland is forecast to see the mercury climb into the upper 90s on Tuesday and Wednesday. This forecast is well above the normal range in the upper 70s over the Fourth of July holiday. The record high for the Rose City for July 4 is 97 degrees while the record reading for July 5 is 96 degrees.

Both of these records could be broken with this heat wave. The city could see its first 100-degree day of the year on Wednesday, an event that typically does not happen until later in July.

Up the road in Seattle, the Emerald City may break the daily record high of 91 degrees on Wednesday. This record has been in place since 2015.

The heat dome will also trap wildfire smoke over the region. The smoke is the result of massive wildfires burning Canada. The smoke is expected to filter into Washington on Tuesday before gradually moving to the south into Oregon and Idaho on Wednesday.

Although the presence of the smoke may help to limit the temperatures as it blocks some of the sun, the air quality could suffer for some parts of the Northwest. Individuals vulnerable to the smoke will want to keep a close eye on air quality readings this week.

Scorcher in the Southwest

The Desert Southwest will also be under the gun for scorching heat this week. Phoenix hit a sizzling 115 degrees on Sunday, its hottest reading of the year thus far. The historical average for early July in the Valley of the Sun is 107 degrees, speaking to the magnitude of this latest weather pattern.

It has been unusually hot in the city as it has not recorded a daily high temperature lower than 110 degrees since the end of June.

Las Vegas is also seeing immense heat after getting off to a cooler than usual start to the summer season. The tourist hot spot did not see its first day in the triple digits in the calendar year until June 30, setting a record for the longest streak of days without temperatures at this benchmark.

Both Phoenix and Las Vegas are expecting the heat to stick around into next week with excessive heat warnings in place for both metropolitan areas.

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