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Seattle-area resident here. Fir trees are browned on the top-sides of their branches and native shrubs and bushes have taken a bad beating from the heat. A larg
by groos 5y ago
Seattle-area resident here. Fir trees are browned on the top-sides of their branches and native shrubs and bushes have taken a bad beating from the heat. A large fraction of deciduous trees look like they would in fall. Anything near asphalt is close to dead. I measured 162F on our driveway asphalt, sufficient to cook meat.
As a once every few decades event, this is not a big deal, the vegetation will recover. However, if this happens once every 2-3 years, the Pacific NW tree cover is in deep trouble. I can see it changing from evergreen to deciduous over time if the trend continues.
- seanmcdirmid 5y agoWhat neighborhood do you live in? Up here in Ballard, I'm not noticing much damage yet, definitely not any dying trees, but we have a bit more coolness, humidity going on because of the bay/canal.
- groos 5y agoEastside. Close to the water, you should have fared much better. The fir trees aren't dying but their branches on topsides are heavily browned. They'll probably recover fine IF this is not a regular event. Otherwise, tree cover change in the long term looks inevitable.
- fingerlocks 5y agoCounter-anecdote: I live in Seattle, my fir trees look normal. My garden survived the heat wave without issue. Auto-drip irrigation runs at dusk and dawn, same as every other year. Our small marijuana crop was briefly at risk without extra ventilation, but otherwise it’s a normal crop year for us. Also, none of berries were scorched as mentioned in other threads. We actually had a huge, way above-average raspberry harvest. Maybe we’re just lucky?