Discussion: Portland

I keep on hearing how hot it is there right now! Plus the forest fires nearby. :( Doesn't sound like great outside weather. Take care and stay cool!

Thanks thanks! Yeah, has not been the best weather these days. Strange to see it so smoggy from all the fire smoke, but I guess that kept it from getting quite so hot as it was supposed to. Looks like we're coming out of it at least!

I imagine the combination of extreme heat and high pollution hasn't worked wonders for local health - have there been any reports of significant impacts? (I'm always on the lookout for information on impacts of extreme events to put in the annual global climate report).

Is air conditioning widely used in Portland?

I haven't heard of a significant increase of any health problems. More of the headlines ended up being about the delays in public transit, which starts slowing down at temps above 90 and even more so above 100 (but also at the same time they were having a glitchy computer server). They also closed outdoor public pools because of the air quality hazard, which isn't what you want to do in a heat wave!

Air conditioning isn't standard in Portland, for instance most of the Reed college campus (including dorms) has no air conditioning. I think many people have bought window units for their homes/apartments in the past few summers and rely on those for the few times a summer when AC is needed. AC was installed in our house right before we bought it, we've probably turned it on about 6 times so far this summer.