Multnomah County to Open Cooling Center, Extend Library Hours on Sunday as Another Heat Spike Arrives to Cook the Northwest

The heat won’t linger this time, like it did last month, thankfully.

Along a Portland street during the July 2022 heat wave. (Blake Benard)
By Anthony Effinger

Multnomah County said it would open a daytime cooling center and extend hours at two libraries on Sunday as another dangerously hot weekend strikes the Pacific Northwest.

The National Weather Service today issued a heat advisory for most of Multnomah County from noon Sunday through 8 pm Monday. The latest NWS forecast shows Portland reaching 102 degrees Sunday.

The cooling center is in Old Town at 435 NW Glisan St. It will be open from 2 to 10 pm. The center allows pets and will provide food and water to people seeking refuge from scorching temperatures.

The libraries with extended hours—10 am to 8 pm—are Midland at 805 SE 122nd Ave. in Portland, and Gresham at 385 NW Miller Ave. in Gresham.

The city of Portland and Multnomah County have a unified command center that recommends measures to help people cope with the heat. In this case, it is Multnomah County that is making cooling resources available.

Sunday’s heat wave will be mercifully short compared with the record-setting seven consecutive days at 95 degrees or more in July, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures are expected to reach 100 degrees on Sunday, then fall back to a high of 94 degrees on Monday and 89 degrees on Tuesday, with a chance of much-needed showers that night. Wednesday will see a high of just 82 degrees.

Unlike last month, night-time temperatures will fall to a more seasonal level, providing relief.

Libraries across Multnomah County will be available as cool spaces during their regular hours Sunday. For the most up-to-date list of library locations and hours, go to multcolib.org/hours-and-locations.

The Central Library downtown will not be open because of a long-scheduled renovation project that began Aug. 1.

Other community cooling spaces will be available this weekend, the city and county said. They are listed on this map: tinyurl.com/coolplacesmultco.

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