The Pacific Northwest is sweltering under an unprecedented June heat wave fueled by the climate crisis, with all-time-high temperatures shattered in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia for the second day in a row. Seattle reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday; Portland hit 116; while the village of Lytton, British Columbia, hit 46.1 degrees Celsius — or 115 Fahrenheit. That’s the highest surface temperature ever recorded in Canada.
More than 12,000 residents of western Washington lost power amid surging demand for electricity and after a wildfire spread below high-voltage power lines in King County.
Maria Smith: “I mean, it’s already bad enough not having air conditioning, but to have no power at all in this heat is dangerous.”