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Seattle will be hotter than Miami this weekend: Northwest cities brace for 100-degree heat

The normally mild Pacific Northwest is facing a potentially historic, record-breaking heat wave this weekend: Temperatures will near or surpass 100 degrees in cities such as Portland and Seattle.

That's hotter than in Miami, where highs in the upper 80s are expected, forecasters said.

"We're going to be looking at all-time record highs in some spots," AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno warned for a part of the country where air conditioning is not a staple in homes.

Weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce, who is warning of "dangerously hot temperatures," said Portland could approach the city's all-time record high of 107 degrees. The National Weather Service forecast office in Portland wrote that “Three words will describe weather for inland areas this weekend into early next week … HOT, VERY HOT."

Farther north, the Seattle-Tacoma airport is expected to approach its all-time June record high of 96 degrees, and it could come within a few degrees of its all-time record of 103 degrees set in July 2009, Dolce said.

And in Seattle, record highs are forecast to be blown away, AccuWeather said. Highs both days this weekend in Seattle are forecast to be in the neighborhood of 96 degrees, which will easily surpass previous record highs of 90 set in 2006 and 92 set in 2015.

An excessive-heat watch has been issued for much of Oregon and Washington. The National Weather Service office in Seattle provided tips for keeping homes that don't have air conditioning cool during a heat wave.

"Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities," the weather service office in Seattle warned.

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Two-thirds of Seattle-area and nearly one-third of Portland homes lack air conditioning, according to the Capital Weather Gang.

The heat will ramp up Friday and last into early next week. "Strong high pressure over the Pacific Northwest will bring a stretch of unseasonably hot weather to much of southwest Washington and northwest Oregon beginning Friday and lasting through at least next Monday," the weather service said. "High temperatures will run 20 to 25 degrees above normal for late June at many locations."

Little to no rainfall is expected to ease the heat, the weather service said, adding to drought and wildfire threats.

The planet's changing climate is at least partly to blame for the extreme heat, experts said.

"Climate change is loading the weather dice against us," Katharine Hayhoe, a climate researcher and the chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy, told CNN. "We always have a chance of extreme heat, particularly in the summer: But as the world warms, we see that summer heat waves are coming earlier, lasting longer and are becoming hotter and more intense."

The normally mild Pacific Northwest is facing a potentially historic, record-breaking heat wave this weekend, with temperatures nearing or surpassing 100 degrees in cities such as Portland and Seattle.
The normally mild Pacific Northwest is facing a potentially historic, record-breaking heat wave this weekend, with temperatures nearing or surpassing 100 degrees in cities such as Portland and Seattle.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pacific Northwest heat wave: Seattle will be hotter than Miami