Thursday, July 30, 2009

Heat Wave in Sequim

Has Sequim ever seen such hot temperatures like the 92 F the other day? I seriously doubt it. That's definitely the highest summer temperatures we have experienced since we moved her in January 2006. It does not seem like this heat wave will stop today. Writing this post at 11am, actually temperatures are not too bad: 23C or 74F.

I also checked my Wunderground Sequim weather forecast logo on our Sequim Town Blog and found out that this is totally off, just as our Acuweather forecast in the Peninsula Daily News is. Best you give us a call as our friends did who just moved from Hawaii to Portland OR where they encountered 104 F yesterday.

Let's get things straight. This is the Pacific Northwest which probably never had a heat wave like that in the past. I was so surprised to hear on our Seattle Kiro News last night that most Seattle houses don't have AC. Well, why should they. They never needed it in the past. Temperatures in Seattle were soaring yesterday and are expected to reach 100F today. Movie theaters are having great business because they are air conditioned. Any place which has AC gets some extra business these hot summer days in the the Pacific Northwest.

When we designed our new house in Sequim, we were wondering whether to save the $8000 on a fancy heat pump for an area which is known for its mild winters and cool summers. OK for resale value we decided to get the heat pump, which can also function as AC unit for your entire house. Can you imagine how happy we are that we had done that.

Organic raspberries from our own bushes at our Sequim house
People in Sequim and Seattle are trying to keep their houses cold with portable AC units. Naturally, these are sold out everywhere. Our friend's heat pump in Sun Meadows just failed the other day. Keoki tried to make it work again but no such luck. She had to call the heat pump company and is now lined up with 72 customers all waiting for repair of their heat pumps. There is a 2-day waiting time.

In any case, Sequim summer 2009 is definitely different, compared to its past history, with high temperatures beyond the 80F mark. Everybody is used to high temperatures in TX, AZ and HI but in Sequim?!

We expect Sequim temperatures to come down again to our regular summer temperatures between 70 - 80 F on this upcoming weekend. We will keep you updated on Sequim summer. Stay cool this summer wherever you live!
p.s.
Our next post will be about U-pick berries in Sequim. Are there any organically grown berries available? That will be the question.

4 comments:

Keoki and Heidi said...

Update from Sequim Town editors on today's afternoon temperatures in Sequim.

We left the house at 4:15pm to go for a bike ride along Old Olympic Highway and had a wonderful ride at a pleasant 76F.

Ron said...

Heidi:
Here is a link to a private weather station located on the south side of Bell Hill. It is an interesting display of the local weather. There are also links to local web cams. If you click on the "bird feeder cam" you will get current images of Happy Valley and beyond.
http://wireless.nikola.com/weather.htm

Aloha from Texas,

Where a 100 degree day is now considered a cold front!

Ron

TR Kelley said...

In 1981, Sequim had a heat wave where temps were over 100 for many days in a row. I was living in a little cottage on Grant Road off of River Road, back when River Rd. when it was just a one lane to nowhere. ;) I spent a lot of time playing in the Dungeness River that year, just a short walk from home. The river is ALWAYS cold!

Heidi said...

Thanks for your visit to our Sequim town blog. Interesting comment about the heatwave in Sequim. In 1981, we did not even know that there was a lovely town like Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula with its wonderful moderate climate and most beautiful location between mountains and ocean!

Ever since our post about this extraordinary heatwave, temperatures are totally back to normal. We embrace the wonderful crisp mountain or ocean air.

We just heard back from our friend Ron, who can't wait to move to Sequim - prices for Sequim real estate has come down by 15% - because Texas has had a streak of 15 days straight in the triple digit temperatures!

My are we happy living in Sequim!