Heat wave kicking in across the Pacific Northwest

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Published June 26, 2022 at 7:21 AM PDT

It's a hot weekend for outdoor activities such as ballooning. The La Jolla, piloted by Dale Justice of Newberg, prepares to touch down on the first morning of the 38th Annual Tigard Festival of Balloons on Friday, June 24, 2022.

The first heat wave of the summer is settling in across the Pacific Northwest, with the peak coming Sunday or Monday depending on the location.

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service includes a heat advisory for all of Western Oregon and Western Washington, plus parts of south-central Oregon, through 10 p.m. Monday. Daytime highs are expected to be from 90 to 100 degrees in Western Oregon, with lows in the upper 50s to mid 60s.

The hottest temperatures in the Portland area are expected on Sunday afternoon, when they could hit 100 degrees. Further north, the heat in Seattle is expected to peak on Monday with a high of 87.

There won’t be any Multnomah County cooling centers open this weekend, because overnight temperatures are expected to dip into the 60s. But three public libraries will stay open later than usual. They include the Central branch, the Holgate branch in southeast Portland, and the Gresham branch on Miller Avenue. They’ll stay open until 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

For those seeking relief in cool waters, the weather service urges extreme caution: While the air may be warm, water temperatures throughout Western Oregon and Washington may still be in the 40s and 50s, and that could cause shock.