The entire West is gearing up for another round of hot temperatures and high demand in the coming days, coming after over a week of moderate weather, especially in the Pacific Northwest from the Cascades over to the coast, keeping us working from Energy GPS offices in Portland, Oregon feeling nice and cool.  The Northwest has dealt with plenty of heat and strong demand for much of the past month, starting after the 4^th of July holiday and holding until about one week ago.  The figure below shows how the 15-day temperature forecast for the Pacific Northwest has evolved over the past two weeks, with the cool blue cells in the center for the previous week and the dark red sitting ahead (and intensifying over the past several days) in the forecast starting tomorrow to usher in the new month of August.    

Figure 1 | 15-Day Temperature Forecast Matrix, Pacific Northwest