Schools and Covid-19 vaccination centers closed Monday while community cooling centers opened as western Canada and parts of the western United States baked in an unprecedented heat wave that saw several temperature records broken.
Lytton in British Columbia broke the record for Canada's all-time high Monday, with a temperature of 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47.5 degrees Celsius), just one day after the village set the previous record at 116 degrees.
Temperatures in the large Pacific Northwest US cities of Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington reached levels not seen since record-keeping began in the 1940s: 115 degrees in Portland and 108 in Seattle, according to the US's National Weather Service.
"It's a desert heat -- very dry and hot," David Phillips, a senior climatologist for Environment Canada, told AFP.
"We are the second coldest country in the world and the snowiest," he said. "We often see cold snaps and blizzards but not often do we talk about hot weather like this."
"Dubai would be cooler than what we're seeing now."
The extreme heat, combined with intense drought, created the perfect conditions for several fires to break out over the weekend, and one blaze on the California-Oregon border had already burned some 600 hectares (1,500 acres) by Monday morning.
Because of climate change, record-setting temperatures are becoming more frequent. Globally, the decade to 2019 was the hottest recorded, and the five hottest years have all occurred within the last five years.
"Normally it's probably like, maybe 60, 70 degrees is a great day -- everybody is outside in shorts and T-shirts -- but this is... ridiculous," one Seattle resident told AFP Sunday, when the mercury hit 104 Fahrenheit. "I feel like I'm in the desert or something."
Amazon opened part of its Seattle headquarters to the public as a cooling-off location Monday, with space available for 1,000 people. Most homes in the city -- usually known for its cool and wet climate -- do not have air conditioning.
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