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Seattle heat wave flash blog: Temp updates, outages

caption: Lilly Ann Sweeney, left, Thelma Davis, and Carolyn Embry, laugh at Sweeney's long-haired chihuahua, Scooter, as they take refuge from the heat in the Salvation Army White Center Community Center Cooling Center, Monday afternoon. Davis, who is 98 and moved to Seattle in 1959, said that she had never seen temperatures this high in the region. The National Weather Service recorded 108 degrees in SeaTac on Monday, setting an all-time record for the area.
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Lilly Ann Sweeney, left, Thelma Davis, and Carolyn Embry, laugh at Sweeney's long-haired chihuahua, Scooter, as they take refuge from the heat in the Salvation Army White Center Community Center Cooling Center, Monday afternoon. Davis, who is 98 and moved to Seattle in 1959, said that she had never seen temperatures this high in the region. The National Weather Service recorded 108 degrees in SeaTac on Monday, setting an all-time record for the area.
Genna Martin for KUOW

This is a hot blog.

Photos: What 108 degrees looks like when you're having fun

caption: Vasili Vouros, center, and John Cain Jr., right, slip n' slide with their kids in Vouros's front yard in Skyway, Monday, June 28. The National Weather Service recorded 108 degrees in SeaTac on Monday, setting an all-time record for the area. A car temperature gauge recorded 109 degrees in Skyway at 4:30 pm.
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Vasili Vouros, center, and John Cain Jr., right, slip n' slide with their kids in Vouros's front yard in Skyway, Monday, June 28. The National Weather Service recorded 108 degrees in SeaTac on Monday, setting an all-time record for the area. A car temperature gauge recorded 109 degrees in Skyway at 4:30 pm.
Genna Martin for KUOW


caption: Gregory Wraggs Sr. laughs with his daughters Av-ai, 5, left, Analiyze, 4, center, and Alycia, 8, as they eat jello, and his wife Shadoria Wraggs, right, plays with their two-month-old son Gregory Jr. inside their temporary room at the King County Cooling Center in White Center, Monday, June 28. The family has been living in their van for the past year and were able to stay in an air-conditioned unit at the cooling center this week as temperatures rose into the 100s.
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Gregory Wraggs Sr. laughs with his daughters Av-ai, 5, left, Analiyze, 4, center, and Alycia, 8, as they eat jello, and his wife Shadoria Wraggs, right, plays with their two-month-old son Gregory Jr. inside their temporary room at the King County Cooling Center in White Center, Monday, June 28. The family has been living in their van for the past year and were able to stay in an air-conditioned unit at the cooling center this week as temperatures rose into the 100s.
Genna Martin for KUOW


caption: From left, Shannon Kelly, Briana Chappell, Ashley Schmidt and Erica McDowell, all friends from college spending a weekend together, cool off inside the air conditioned Pacific Place Mall on Sunday as temperatures reached 104, according to the National Weather Service. Seattle dealt with record breaking temperatures all weekend and into Monday.
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From left, Shannon Kelly, Briana Chappell, Ashley Schmidt and Erica McDowell, all friends from college spending a weekend together, cool off inside the air conditioned Pacific Place Mall on Sunday as temperatures reached 104, according to the National Weather Service. Seattle dealt with record breaking temperatures all weekend and into Monday.
Genna Martin for KUOW


caption: Tony Nguyen takes a break from skateboarding in 100-degree heat on Sunday, June 27, 2021, at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill.
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Tony Nguyen takes a break from skateboarding in 100-degree heat on Sunday, June 27, 2021, at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill.
Genna Martin for KUOW


caption: Amane Robale, center, holds her daughter Rumaisa, 1, and her sister Oromiya Robale, foreground, holds her brother Yusuf, 2, on a float as they cool off in Lake Washington at Mt. Baker Beach, Monday, June 28. The National Weather Service recorded 108 degrees in SeaTac on Monday, setting an all-time record for the area.
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Amane Robale, center, holds her daughter Rumaisa, 1, and her sister Oromiya Robale, foreground, holds her brother Yusuf, 2, on a float as they cool off in Lake Washington at Mt. Baker Beach, Monday, June 28. The National Weather Service recorded 108 degrees in SeaTac on Monday, setting an all-time record for the area.
Genna Martin for KUOW


The roads are buckling from the heat

As commuters head home for the day, the Washington State Department of Transportation says it's in the middle of four pavement panel repairs due to the record-breaking heat wave's effect on roads.

WSDOT is advising drivers to stay alert and plan for large backups.

PHOTOS: As temperatures soar, Seattleites hit the beach

As Seattle hit an all-time record of 107 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, Laurelhurst residents flocked to their beach club. Juan Chiquiza, KUOW social media strategist, took these photos.

caption: Two people are jumping out of a platform in the Laurelhurst Beach Club June 28, 2021.
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Two people are jumping out of a platform in the Laurelhurst Beach Club June 28, 2021.
Juan Pablo Chiquiza


caption: A view of the Laurelhurst Beach Club swim area from the beach on Monday, June 28, 2021, the hottest day on record in Seattle. The temperature reached 107 degrees at Sea-Tac Airport.
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A view of the Laurelhurst Beach Club swim area from the beach on Monday, June 28, 2021, the hottest day on record in Seattle. The temperature reached 107 degrees at Sea-Tac Airport.
KUOW Photo/Juan Chiquiza


caption: Children jump off the dock at the Laurelhurst Beach Club, a private residential club in Northeast Seattle on Monday, June 28, 2021. Temperatures inched into triple digits, reaching 107 at Sea-Tac Airport.
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Children jump off the dock at the Laurelhurst Beach Club, a private residential club in Northeast Seattle on Monday, June 28, 2021. Temperatures inched into triple digits, reaching 107 at Sea-Tac Airport.
KUOW Photo/Juan Chiquiza


caption: A sailor and a swimmer in Lake Washington near Seattle's Laurelhurst neighborhood on Monday, June 21, 2021, amid record breaking temperatures. The mercury reached 107 at Sea-Tac around the time this photo was taken.
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A sailor and a swimmer in Lake Washington near Seattle's Laurelhurst neighborhood on Monday, June 21, 2021, amid record breaking temperatures. The mercury reached 107 at Sea-Tac around the time this photo was taken.
KUOW Photo/Juan Chiquiza
caption: A view of the docks at Laurelhurst Beach Club on Monday, June 28, 2021, on a record breaking day for temperature in Seattle. The mercury reached 107 degrees.
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A view of the docks at Laurelhurst Beach Club on Monday, June 28, 2021, on a record breaking day for temperature in Seattle. The mercury reached 107 degrees.
KUOW Photo/Juan Chiquiza

Seattle sets new high temp record

Seattle immigration court closes

Immigration proceedings -- which have slowed down due to Covid-19 -- are now shut down because of the extreme weather.

The Seattle Office of Immigration Review based downtown cited the heat and an "inoperable HVAC system" for their closure Monday.

There are over 17 thousand immigration cases currently backlogged at the Seattle court.


Careful with those baby feet burns

Harborview Medical Center has seen several children in their burn unit for asphalt burns to their feet. Pets are also at risk.

"The roads are melting in places here," said Dr. Beth Ebel, a UW Medicine pediatrician. "It is ferociously hot. Do not have your kid running around barefoot when they can be on that kind of hot surface, you’ve got to get the shoes on."

Good news from the weather service! (See update above. Just a brief moment of respite)


No heat-related deaths so far, but hospital visits increase

Last week saw at least 57 heat-related visits to emergency rooms in the Seattle region, according to the Seattle-King County Health Department. Those admitted reported vomiting, fainting, and heat stroke.

Saturday accounted for most of those visits, with preliminary numbers showing that 41 people went to emergency rooms. These individuals came from all over the county. The largest group getting sick, with 43 percent of the total, was in the 18-44 age bracket.

From a Seattle-King County Health Department statement: “Chief complaints and discharge diagnoses include syncope (temporary loss of consciousness caused by a fall in blood pressure), near syncope, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, vomiting, dizziness and dehydration.”

Among those visits, seven were for drowning, near drowning and submersion, which is more than usual, the health department said.

Separately, EMS services (ambulance) reported 37 heat-related illnesses on Saturday, when it reached 103 degrees.

—Isolde Raftery


Friends from Los Angeles approve of these cooling tips


The birds are gonna be okay

Editor’s note: Ashley Hiruko was assigned to this story because her editor worried that all the baby birds would get cooked in this heat wave. She called Audubon and was reassured.

Birds’ temperatures are warmer than humans – 102 to 109 degrees. Which means that they can hang in extreme temperatures … but past 109 degrees, and it becomes more difficult for them to regulate. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s get much warmer than this on Monday.

Seattle Audubon Society had not heard about suspicious bird deaths but encourages you to file dead bird reports to dbird.org.

In the meantime, help birds stay cool by putting out water for them in the shade. Or if you water your plants in the middle of the day* those droplets help to hydrate birds.

*If you are a plant person, it’s not advised to water during the day because those very droplets can act as mirrors and scorch your leaves.

—Ashley Hiruko

Where to cool down in Seattle

The city of Seattle is opening yet another cooling center Monday morning at the Amazon Meeting Center at 2031 7th Avenue in downtown.

It'll be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

People coming into the cooling centers need to wear a mask and show ID. No pets are allowed (exceptions for service animals).

The city has opened at least 34 other cooling centers in local libraries, senior and community centers. There are about 30 beaches, pools, spray parks, and wading pools open too.

Library cooling centers (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

Ballard Branch, 5614 22nd Ave NW

Delridge Branch, 5423 Delridge Way SW

Douglass-Truth Branch, 2300 E Yesler Way

Greenwood Branch, 8016 Greenwood Ave North

High Point Branch, 3411 S.W. Raymond St.

International District/Chinatown Branch, 713 Eighth Ave. South

Lake City Branch, 12501 28th Ave. N.E.

Rainier Beach Branch, 9125 Rainier Ave. South

South Park Branch, 8604 8th Ave South

— Angela King

About those power outages

We’re tracking power outages this morning. Nearly 2,800 Puget Sound Energy customers have no power right now. More than 300 City Light customers are also waiting for power to be restored.

One challenge facing Seattle City Light crews: They’ve got to get down into these underground vaults to fix some of the failed equipment. The utility company told King 5 News that those vaults are event hotter than the temperatures above ground, so workers must limit how much time they spend down there.

—Angela King

Heat causes disruptions to Sound Transit rail service

Sound Transit is warning passengers that all Link light rail trains are operating at reduces speeds because the tracks are overheating amid the heat wave.

— Angela King

You might be feeling eco anxiety, or climate grief

This tweet from Jane C. Hu, a science writer based in Seattle, hit me like a gut punch.

It reminded me of Ashley Ahearn's Terrestrial podcast, in which she explores eco anxiety. It was one of the first times a journalist explored this notion.

As the effects of climate change get worse, psychologists are finding that it’s making people more stressed and therefore more likely to develop anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress, depression and problems with substance abuse.

In the U.S., psychologists saw those kinds of reactions immediately after Hurricane Katrina and superstorm Sandy. And in Australia, they saw it during the Millennium drought that went on for more than a decade.

I highly recommend listening to this podcast, which went viral back when it first aired.

—Isolde Raftery

It's hot for the same reason it cooks in Phoenix

The record temperatures in the region are being driven by conditions more commonly found in the Southwest, in cities like Phoenix, Arizona.

Justin Pullin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said that warm winds coming from the Cascades are getting trapped under high atmospheric pressure, creating a heat-dome effect. This sort of high pressure system leads to the infamously high temperatures in areas like Phoenix.

"Plenty of days in the 100s and the 110s, and it's normal down there for them this time of year," Pullin said. "We're basically translating that weather pattern and bringing it over the Northwest, an area that is not used to that."

—Angela King

Seattle has been knocking out temperature records

103 on Saturday.

104 on Sunday.

What will it be today, Monday?

The weather service folks do seem to be getting some glee out of these records, tweeting them out like they would sports scores — I'm a journalist, I get it; we take pleasure in the extreme, too — but then you see tweets like this and it takes all the excitement out of it.

—Isolde Raftery

Golden Gardens: 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, June 27, when the mercury hit 104 in Seattle

caption: A man dives into the water at Golden Gardens park in Ballard at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, June 27, 2021, 5:15 p.m., at just about the moment when Seattle set an all-time record temperature of 104 degrees.
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A man dives into the water at Golden Gardens park in Ballard at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, June 27, 2021, 5:15 p.m., at just about the moment when Seattle set an all-time record temperature of 104 degrees.
KUOW Photo/Juan Chiquiza

It felt like 148 degrees on the track at the Eugene Olympic trials

Lake Washington School District canceled football workouts for Monday.

Further south, officials in Eugene, Oregon, temporarily suspended last nights competition at the the track and field Olympic trials. The air temperature was 107 degrees, but down on the track, it felt more like 148 degrees.

At least one athlete had to be wheeled away after she collapsed.

—Angela King

Hang in there, Oregon

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