Portland Has Never Been Hotter Than It Was Today

It’s 108 degrees. The previous record was 107. Portland will probably break its record again tomorrow.

Heat Wave Cooling down in a Portland fountain on June 26, 2021. (Chris Nesseth) (Chris Nesseth)
By Sophie Peel

It’s never been hotter in Portland than it is right now.

The National Weather Service in Portland announced just after 6 pm on Saturday that the temperature has exceeded all recorded temperatures in city history.

“Well, PDX has done it,” the office announced on Twitter. “108 degrees Fahrenheit at the airport. That breaks the all-time high temperature for the airport of 107.”

Shortly after, the NWS produced a list of locations where the heat broke daily records—that is, the hottest temperature recorded on any June 26.

But the 108-degree mark in Portland is different from those daily records: The city has never recorded a temperature that high on any day.

Local officials have scrambled to find places to keep people cool. Multnomah County currently has three cooling shelters open 24 hours. State health officials lifted all capacity limits on public venues that were created to prevent the spread of COVID-19. City parks officials said this evening that all pools were at full capacity and encouraged people to instead seek out city splash parks.

And it’s only going to get hotter: The record set today will likely be smashed by tomorrow evening, when temperatures are projected to rise up to 112 degrees in some parts of the city.

Keep on wiping that upper lip, champ.



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