The heatwave in the Pacific Northwest is now expected to last longer than forecasters originally predicted, putting parts of the normally temperate region on track to break records for the duration of heat waves. “We heated up the forecast for the latter part of this week,” said David Bishop, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland, Oregon. His office is now forecasting up to 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 Celsius) for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Portland already hit 38.9 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, a new record daily high, prompting the National Weather Service to extend an extreme heat warning for the city from Thursday through Saturday night. Seattle on Tuesday also reported a new daily record high of 94 F (34.4 C). The length of the heat wave puts Oregon’s largest city on track to tie its longest streak of six consecutive days of 35 C or higher. Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, an area where one-week heatwaves have historically been rare, climate experts say. Heat-related 911 calls in Portland have tripled in recent days, from an estimated eight calls on Sunday to 28 calls on Tuesday, said Dan Douthit, spokesman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management. Most of the calls involved a medical response, Douthit added. Multnomah County, which includes Portland, said there has been an increase in the number of people visiting emergency departments for heat-related symptoms. Emergency department visits “remain elevated as of Sunday,” the county said in a statement. “Over the past three days, hospitals have treated 13 people for heat illness when they would normally have expected to see two or three.” People working or exercising outside, along with the elderly, were among those taken to emergency departments, the statement added. On Wednesday, the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office said at least two people died of suspected hyperthermia during the heat wave. One death occurred in Portland on Monday, the Multnomah County Coroner’s Office said. The state medical examiner’s office said the heat-related death designation is preliminary and could change after further investigation. The official cause of death may not be confirmed until several months later. The people of Portland’s iconic food cart industry are among those working outside. Many food trucks have closed as the sidewalks hum. Rico Loverde, the chef and owner of the Monster Smash Burgers food cart, said the temperature inside his cart is generally 20 degrees higher than the outside temperature, making it 120 F (48.9 C) inside his business this week. week. Loverde said he shuts down if it gets above 35 degrees Celsius because his coolers overheat and shut down. Last week, even with slightly cooler temperatures in the mid-90s, Loverde suffered heatstroke from working on his cart for hours, he said. “It hurts, it definitely hurts. I still pay my employees when we’re closed like that because they have to pay the bills too, but for a small business it’s not good,” he said Tuesday. Multnomah County said its four emergency overnight shelters were at half capacity Tuesday with 130 people staying overnight. However, anticipating higher demand, officials decided to expand capacity at the four locations to accommodate nearly 300 people. Shelters will remain open until at least Friday morning. William Nonluecha, who lives in a tent in Portland, sought shade with some friends as the temperature soared Wednesday afternoon. Nonluecha was less than a minute’s walk from a cooling shelter set up by local authorities, but he didn’t know it was open. He said the heat in his tent was almost unbearable. His friend Mel Taylor, who was homeless last year but now has transitional housing, said during last summer’s record-breaking heat wave a man in a tent near him died of heat exhaustion and no one noticed. He fears the same could happen this summer. “He was in his tent for about a week and the smell, that’s how they knew he was dead,” Taylor said. “It’s sad.” Residents and officials in the Northwest are trying to adjust to the possible reality of longer, hotter heat waves after last summer’s deadly weather event caused record temperatures and deaths. About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during a 2021 heatwave that hit in late June and early July. The temperature at the time soared to a record high of 116 F (46.7 C) in Portland and broke heat records in cities and towns across the region. Many of those who died were older and lived alone. Other areas of the US often experience 100 degree temperatures. But in areas like the Pacific Northwest, people aren’t as used to heat and are more sensitive to it, said Craig Crandall, professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “There’s a much greater risk for people in areas like the Northwest to have higher incidences of heat-related injury and death,” Crandall said. Crandall said people who are constantly exposed to heat have certain physical adaptations that allow them to cool off more efficiently. A major acclimation response is an increase in the amount of sweat released by the sweat glands. “The combination of not having air conditioning and not being exposed to the heat and not having those adaptations” can put people in the Northwest at greater risk during heatwaves than in warmer parts of the country, he said. Portland officials have opened cooling centers in public buildings and installed fogging stations in parks. TriMet, which operates public transit in the Portland metro area, offers free rides to cooling centers for passengers who can’t afford to pay. Officials in Seattle and Portland issued air quality alerts Tuesday that are expected to last through Saturday. Further south, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Wednesday for western Nevada and northeastern California that will last from late Thursday morning through Saturday night. Across the region, near-record daytime high temperatures will range from 99 to 104 degrees F (37.22 to 40 C). Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
