It's Not Just Me Complaining

That's not high by Death Valley standards, of course; that California desert town hit 122 degrees on Sunday. Ultimately, Portland's temperature spike could prove to be meteorological much ado about nothing. Understandably, people from hotter states are inclined to scoff when Oregonians complain about the heat. In some ways, it's a summer reprisal of last winter's debate over whether Portland should be better prepared for extremely low temperatures.

The answer is similar, too: We're not prepared because we don't often have to be prepared. But the fact that Oregonians are not acclimated to hot temperatures multiplies the risks when such weather arises. So it was impressive to see the city of Portland and Multnomah County both reacting swiftly, over the weekend, to counteract the heat.

From an op-ed in OregonLive, titled perversely, "Counteracting the Cold." Still 102, but it's been feeling cooler. I've been a little confused... it was starting to feel cooler even as the temp rose to 104. But I just noticed the dewpoint has fallen to 56 from the 64 degrees it was when I posted the screen capture earlier.

It's still bloody hot.