http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/extreme-west-coast-weather-32820999/

A Look at the Extreme West Coast Weather

By The Associated Press Aug 1, 2015,

PORTLAND, Ore. — Southern California has been pummeled by heavy rain and hail, while the Pacific Northwest is baking in a triple-digit heat wave. Here's a look at the extreme weather:

WHAT HEAT RECORDS WERE BROKEN IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST?

Forecasters say the region saw its warmest June on record and July is close to setting a record as well. Thursday's high of 103 in Portland was its hottest day this year, and the hottest day since July 2009.

On Thursday, the high at Sea-Tac Airport was 91 degrees, the 10th day in 2015 with a temperature of 90 or above. That broke the record for the most days hitting 90 degrees or higher for the city. In 1958 there were nine 90-degree days.

IS THIS UNUSUAL WEATHER AND WHAT ARE THE CAUSES?

Forecasters say such heat is not unprecedented. The high temperatures are caused by a strong high pressure system moving over the region that blocks the influence of cool ocean airflows.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF THE SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS?

The hot dry air is sucking more moisture out of plants and warming up rivers and streams. Pasture lands are drying up, and some crops like berries aren't weathering the heat well.

Fish are also dying off, due to extremely high temperatures in rivers and streams.

ANY RELIEF IN SIGHT?

Temperatures are expected to cool down over the weekend and into next week and return to seasonal averages in the 80s. Long-term, the trend of above-average temperatures is expected to continue.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CALIFORNIA?

In Southern California, monsoonal thunderstorms have triggered flash flooding, toppled trees and caused power outages. By July 19, more rain had fallen in downtown Los Angeles this month than in all the months of July since 1987.

The rain was welcomed by many as the state weathers its fourth straight year of drought.

WHAT'S CAUSING THE THUNDERSTORMS?

Rain from the remnants of Hurricane Dolores earlier in July set daily and monthly rainfall records in Los Angeles. Thursday's thunderstorms and flooding stemmed from monsoonal patterns that typically peak in August.

WILL THE RAINS GO AWAY?

The atmosphere is beginning to dry out. Flash-flood watches were less widely posted and mainly confined to the Mojave Desert and extending northward along the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada.

———

This story contains information provided by the National Weather Service

Pfffftttt!!!! What about the East Coast? We have been hit with close to 100 F temperatures here, too. I even started a thread about it.

i'm not getting why people think think 100 degrees is "extreme" weather....

really, 100 deg. here and a little breeze...tolerable.

here too, with about 80% humidity...

My thread from July 2,2015
The U N. & WHO Global Warning

http://m.mingle2.com/topic/show/437498/

not uncommon in Va. to get 100 + temps in summer

its been a cool summer so far here except the last 30 days

Here in jax FL we've been getting rain daily for quite some time. I love thunderstorms with big cracks of lightening!

The New York Times
Crews in California Fight to Contain 21 Wildfires

By CHRISTINE HAUSER
AUGUST 3, 2015

National Guard drops water on the wildfire in Lake County, California over the weekend.

VIDEO BY STORYFUL EDITOR

National Guard forces dropped water along the edges of a raging wildfire over the weekend as more than 2,000 firefighters in Northern California tried to contain a blaze that has already scorched 54,000 acres.

The wildfire, nicknamed the Rocky Fire, started on Wednesday. It is the largest in the drought-parched state, where more than 9,000 firefighters are struggling to contain it and 20 other active wildfires, some caused by lightning strikes, according to a statewide summary published on Sunday.

The Rocky Fire has now spread to three counties — Colusa, Lake and Yolo — and prompted the mandatory evacuation of about 12,000 people. It has so far damaged or destroyed dozens of buildings and residences. Parts of Highway 20 and Highway 16 were closed.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that as of late Sunday night, only 5 percent of the burning Rocky Fire acreage in the north was contained. More than 6,000 structures are threatened by the blaze, which the authorities estimated could not be fully contained until Aug. 10.

Crews in California Fight to Contain 21 Wildfires

Images of the Rocky Fire were shared online as it spread, including this footage from Clearlake

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/us/california-wildfires-rocky-fire.html?referrer=/

RELATED COVERAGE
The Parched West: Dry Days Bring Ferocious Start to Fire Season AUG 1, 2015

I spent over 30 years in Texas. 93? 100? Pfffffffffffffft! that's not THAT hot!

Oh wait! Yes it is! When you don't have AC!

Most residences in Seattle have no air-conditioning

yea, well... i guess people didn't live before there was household AC... anything below 110 isn't extreme, to me anyway...

the pussifacation of America continues...

I will swap
you have cold weather for your heat.
Love the summer storms

Even if you have AC, you still have to travel in the street. It's not the temperature more than the humidity. The air is extremely polluted and it chokes and destroys the quality of life. The air was much cleaner in the old days so the high temperatures were tolerable back then.