The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning with high temperatures between 95 and 103 degrees Fahrenheit expected across the Portland-Vancouver metro area, the Columbia River Gorge, much of the Willamette Valley and the foothills of the northern and central Oregon Cascades.
The advisory goes into effect Friday morning through late Tuesday morning.
In Southern Oregon, a separate extreme heat warning is in effect Friday through Monday for much of Jackson and Josephine counties. An extreme heat watch is in place Saturday afternoon through Wednesday evening for a large swath of north-central and northeast Oregon, including the Lower Columbia Basin and the Blue Mountains.
NWS meteorologist Colby Neuman said extreme heat events this late in the summer are rare and much more common in June and July.
“As we go into the second half of August, the odds of us getting to, let’s say, around 100 [degrees] really decrease dramatically, just based off of what’s happened historically,” Neuman said.
But what’s really unusual this time is the duration. Neuman said while the chance is low — less than 20% — high temperatures could extend well into next week, up to a five-day heat event.
“Most of our heat events are usually two days,” Neuman said. “Three days is on the upper end of what’s sort of normal. When we start looking at four- or five-day heat events, those are much rarer, even in July… It’s a low probability of that happening, but it’s not out of the question at this point.”
That’s concerning for people living without air conditioning.
“Just because their home continues to heat up progressively more and more each day,” he said. “That can bring sort of compounding effects, especially for older folks, people that have medical conditions or [are] susceptible to heat-related illnesses.”
In 2021, a record-shattering heat dome plunged Portland into over 100-degree weather for several days, causing nearly 100 deaths, most of them in Multnomah County. Since then, Portland has ramped up preparation for extreme heat, including creating a program offering free air conditioners to residents.
Multnomah County Communications Coordinator Jessica Morkert-Shibley said they’ve also been preparing for extreme heat events like this for several years.
“Since 2021, really, we have been very focused on providing cool spaces for our community, and it’s been part of our mission.”
Renee Curtis with the Department of County Human Services also clarified that cooling spaces are not the same as emergency cooling centers.
Emergency cooling centers are designated, county-run locations, and are not regularly open. When they are, they offer relief during the hottest part of the day during milder heat events and all day during more severe events. The county’s website has more information about how and when officials decide to open the centers.
Cooling spaces are generic locations where people can find relief, including county libraries, pools, community centers and interactive fountains and splash pads. Links to cooling centers in each Oregon county is available at this website.
One example of a cooling center is the Gresham Senior Center, which provides seniors — who are among the most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses — with air conditioning and a relief from the extreme heat.
Center director Scott Harden said the hot weather, combined with the isolation many seniors face, is a compounded health risk that his program tries to address.
“We just offer a chance to stay cool and a chance to connect with community, because you know when you live alone, the heat isn’t the only health risk,” Harden said.
Harden said two recent possible heat-related deaths in Multnomah County illustrate the double danger heat and isolation pose to some seniors.
County officials will continue to monitor the weather and decide if and when to open cooling centers.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.