12 million people are under a heat advisory in the Pacific Northwest

More than 12 million people in the Pacific Northwest are under a heat advisory as temperatures over the weekend are expected to rise nearly 20 degrees higher than normal, with the extreme weather extending into Canada as the country struggles with dozens of forest fires.

National Weather Service forecasters said an abnormal high-pressure area will build a “heat dome” over the western United States and Canada that will act like a lid over the atmosphere, bringing clear skies and rising temperatures.

“Temperatures in the Pacific Northwest will experience spikes in the 80s and 90s, which will represent anomalies of more than 20-30 degrees,” That’s what forecasters from the Weather Prediction Center said on Saturday. “Many parts of the Pacific Northwest coast will match or break temperature records this weekend.”

The Seattle area is expected to reach a high of 87 degrees Saturday and Sunday. If temperatures reach 90 degrees, it will break a May 17, 2008 record for the earliest 90-degree day of the year.

Temperatures in the region are expected to be in the low to mid 80s for the next week, according to forecasters.

Several refrigeration centers opened in the Seattle area this weekend in preparation for the heat wave. according to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.

While Portland, Oregon, has yet to open official cold stores, local officials insisted people to seek respite from the heat at local libraries, community pools, or fountains. More than 43,000 bottles of water and 4,400 packs of sunscreen were also distributed to people without shelter in the past week, Portland officials said.

The hot weather will also extend into Canada, where Alberta is battling about 75 wildfires, 23 of which are considered out of control, Copernicus, an Earth observation component of the European Union’s space program, said. Thursday on Twitter.

Alberta has declared a state of emergency and has asked more than 29,000 people to evacuate their homes.

The Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service said in a press release this week that temperatures in Northern Canada were higher than average last month.

Days of abnormally high temperatures have contributed to the intensity of fires by drying out vegetation, making them more likely to ignite. Analyzes have shown that climate change has increased the likelihood of such extreme heat waves.

Smoke from the wildfires has blanketed parts of the United States, leaving several states along the East Coast and in the Midwest, including Virginia, Maryland and Ohio, with air quality levels that are mediocre rather than good, according to AirNow, which tracks air quality across the country.

While linking a single heat wave to climate change requires analysis, scientists have no doubt that heat waves around the world are getting hotter, longer and more frequent.

The 2018 National Climate Assessment, a major scientific report from 13 federal agencies, noted that the number of hot days was increasing and that the frequency of heat waves in the United States increased from an average of two per year in the 1960s to six per year by the 2010s.

Also, according to the report, the season for heat waves has stretched to 45 days longer than in the 1960s.

A 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada was exceptional, breaking previous temperature records by large margins. Globally, only five other heat waves have been this extreme since 1960.

Judson Jones reporting contributed.