Pacific Northwest cities shatter heat records again, life grinds to a halt

The cities of Portland and Salem in Oregon, and Seattle in Washington set new temperature records on Monday as the Pacific Northwest baked under a heatwave that has shut down much of daily life for residents. In Salem, Oregon’s state capitol, temperatures reached 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47.2 degrees Celsius), the hottest since record-keeping began in the 1890s. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport set an all-time high temperature of 106 Fahrenheit, breaking the record set one day earlier. Portland’s airport temperature reached 115 on Monday, breaking the all-time high for the third day in a row. Before setting a record of 112 on Sunday and 108 on Saturday, the previous mark of 107 had not been reached since 1981, the National Weather Service said. “To put it in perspective, today will likely go down in history as the hottest day ever recorded for places such as Seattle, WA and Portland, OR,” the National Weather Service said, predicting the heatwave could begin to ease on Tuesday.<br/>