Seattle
The hottest day of an unprecedented and dangerous heat wave scorched the Pacific Northwest on Monday, with temperatures obliterating records that had been set just the day before.
Seattle hit 42°C by evening — well above Sunday’s all-time high of 40°C. Portland, Oregon, reached 46.6 °C after hitting records of 42°C on Saturday and 44°C on Sunday. The temperatures were unheard of in a region better known for rain, and where June has historically been referred to as “Juneuary” for its cool drizzle. Seattle’s average high temperature in June is around 21.1°C, and fewer than half of the city’s residents have air conditioning, as per US Census data.
The heat forced schools and businesses to close to protect workers and guests, including some places like outdoor pools and ice cream shops where people seek relief from the heat. Covid-19 testing sites and mobile vaccination units were out of service as well.
The Seattle Parks Dept closed one indoor community pool after the air inside became too hot — leaving Stanlie James, who relocated from Arizona three weeks ago, to search for somewhere else to cool off. She doesn’t have AC at her condo, she said. "Part of the reason I moved here was not only to be near my daughter, but also to come in the summer to have relief from Arizona heat," James said.
The heat wave was caused by what meteorologists dub a dome of high pressure over the Northwest and worsened by human-caused climate change.
Torrential rain hits Germany leading to accidents, floods
Berlin
Thunderstorms hit Germany late on Monday and torrential rain poured down on southern and western parts of the country leading to dozens of accidents and hundreds of firefighter operations throughout the night.
In Bavaria, some villages were flooded, including Moemlingen, near Frankfurt, where streets were completely covered by water and mud and many basements had to be pumped dry by firefighters, German news agency dpa reported on Tuesday.
In Stuttgart, parts of the roof and several statues on the city’s opera house were thrown to the ground by the winds. “I’m standing underneath the roof and getting very wet,” the opera’s manager Viktor Schoner said.
