Seattle opens dozens of cooling centers ahead of another heat wave

With temperatures forecasted to be in the mid-90s, cooling centers have reopened across Seattle for people to get out of the heat.

The heat over Aug.12-14 won’t be anywhere near what the Pacific Northwest saw in June.

Libraries and community centers are the two main options for the many people in Seattle who don’t have AC at home. Senior centers and day shelters are also available specifically for older people and those experiencing homelessness. \

This online map shows all of the available cooling centers in Seattle right now.

These temporary shelters were just open a little over a month ago during June’s record-setting heat wave.

“Generally speaking, temperatures above 90 degrees for more than one day will trigger a response from the City for residents like cooling centers,” said city spokesperson Chelsea Kellogg.

Other compounding environmental hazards, like wildfire smoke or extreme humidity, “can change that threshold or response,” Kellogg wrote.

Outreach workers, the city says, have been visiting tent encampments this week to give out water and encourage people to get into one of the cooling centers. On Wednesday, the day before the heat was to ramp up, dozens of people were still camped in Prefontaine Place Park in Pioneer Square. Nobody there said they planned to go to a cooling center as it was too much work to temporarily move all of their belongings.

At another large encampment at Mercer and Dexter in South Lake Union, campers said they had not been contacted by outreach workers and weren’t aware of the cooling centers.

Many of the cooling centers, including libraries and day shelters, close at 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. when temperatures can still be pretty high. On Thursday morning, just past midnight, it was over 70 degrees in Seattle.

Chelsea Kellogg from the city says, “we do open overnight shelters if the forecasting shows no significant nighttime cooling effect for multiple days. Our current modeling suggests the overnight temperatures will cool to the mid-60’s, but if that changes we are prepared to stand up our overnight shelter options.”

Shopping centers and movie theaters might be a good, nighttime option when cooling centers close. All cooling centers will remain open through Saturday.

The National Weather Service in Seattle forecasts the heat to break on Sunday and temperatures to drop back down to the low 80s.