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PHOTOGRAPH BY TED S. WARREN, AP
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By Craig Welch, ENVIRONMENT writer
When I moved to western Washington in the late 1990s, the weather was disorienting. It rarely snows here. My first winter, it rained 90 days out of 12o. At the end of May, after a few glorious bluebird days, Seattle’s slate skies usually return, and a thick cloud ceiling settles in for another month. We call it Juneuary.
We have our jokes—“What do you call two straight days of rain in Seattle? The weekend.” “What’s a week in Seattle without rain? Summer.” Over time, though, I’ve grown to love it. Sure, it can be gloomy at times, but it is almost never hot. Just three weeks ago, Seattle had a day that never topped 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
But climate change is the great equalizer, and, as Sarah Gibbens reported last week, a deadly heat dome has descended upon my city, and on millions of people in the Pacific Northwest. The consequences may prove profound. Before this weekend, Seattle had only recorded three days in history over 100 degrees—none in June. The June record high was 96. But Saturday we topped 102, Sunday we hit 104—the hottest day ever recorded, until yesterday. Yesterday reached an astounding 108 degrees. Outside Seattle, it was even hotter. (Above, a cyclist passes Seattle’s Space Needle on Monday. Below, cliff divers along the Clackamas River at High Rocks Park in Portland, Oregon.)
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