Buster Poindexter had it right: It’s Hot Hot Hot

Heat wave sneaks up on a NW still shivering from cold, wet June

Pamplin Media Group, Jul 7, 2010, Updated Jul 9, 2010 (2 Reader comments)

Jaime Valdez / Pamplin Media Group

Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue firefighters mop up a brush fire that started around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a field along Southwest Lebeau Road in Sherwood. Five agencies including Newberg, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Fire District 2 and TVF&R responded to the fire because of the threat to homes in the area. It was the first grass fire in the Portland area. A heat advisory has been issued for the region through Friday night.

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It’s time to channel your inner Martha and Vandellas. Sing it: Got a heat wave, burnin’ in my heart.

Or, better yet, let’s do the old Johnny Carson bit: It’s so hot today that (insert your joke here).

Anything to take our minds off the real heat wave that is frying the Pacific Northwest just a few days after the whole place was stuck in a cold, cloudy funk.

How hot was it, Johnny?

Wednesday’s high of 95 degrees was a record (blasting past 1996’s 93 degrees), and Thursday’s temperatures are expected to reach 98, which also would be a record high.

“Conditions are prime for Portland and Vancouver to see their first 100-plus degree days since July 29, 2009, when the mercury hit a record-setting 106 degrees in Portland and an all-time record setting 108 degrees in Vancouver,” said Steve Pierce, vice president of the Oregon chapter of the American Meteorological Society.

The record high for Thursday at the Portland International Airport is 98 degrees set in 1952 and 97 degrees in Vancouver, set in 1926, Pierce said.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the Willamette Valley and parts of Southwest Washington, as temperatures are expected to reach triple digits. The advisory continues until 8 p.m. Friday.

The hot weather prompted Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality to issue a smog alert for Thursday and Friday. As winds subside, the stagnant air could become dangerous for some people in the region.

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