SALEM — Extreme weather like the deadly heat wave that hit Oregon at the end of June are a sign of things to come, state officials said Monday, July 12.

The National Weather Service has reported temperatures in the last week of June obliterated all-time heat records: 101 in Astoria, 109 in Bend, 112 in Redmond, 116 in Portland, 117 in Salem and 118 in Hermiston. Other cities “only” tied their hottest marks: Pendleton at 113 and Medford at 115.

The thermometer readings were “otherworldly,” said Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen on July 12. 

“The reality is that such excessive and deadly conditions are here to stay,” Allen said.

Oregon’s death toll from the heat is currently 83, with another 32 still under investigation, Allen said.

More than 800 people sought help from heat-related medical issues over the course of the scorching temps.

The heat wave added to 18 months of catastrophes that have hit Oregon.

Since early 2020, the state has had historic floods in eastern Oregon, the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires that burned over 1 million acres, smoke smothering the entire state, power outages from ice storms and a protracted drought that has reservoirs in some areas at a fraction of their designed capacity.

Andrew Phelps, director of the Office of Emergency Management, said Monday the state had launched a review of the response to the heat wave. It’s an effort to alter expectations of both the public and officials as to what is “normal” when it comes to weather.

One question on the table: Why didn’t Gov. Kate Brown make an emergency declaration as the heat wave approached?

Phelps said he believed most people knew well ahead of time that the heat wave was coming and to take precautions. The emergency declaration would not have changed public agency responses.

“If you overuse a tool like an emergency declaration just to sound an alarm, it becomes white noise in the background,” Phelps said.

Fariborz Pakseresht, director of the Deparment of Human Services, said the state’s 211 phone information system had stumbled during the heat wave, with his agency’s staff confirming complaints that the call centers were understaffed on the weekend and didn’t have information callers sought about resources in their area.

The heat compounds years of drought conditions to create extreme fire risk around much of the state. Already, hundreds of thousands of acres have burned.