Multnomah County cooling centers reopen this weekend

Multnomah County will open three cooling centers in Portland and Gresham on Saturday and Sunday as temperatures continue to soar in the area.

Portland set a record for the daily high temperature yesterday at 99 degrees. Today's forecast calls for a high of about 98 degrees.

The shelters at Cook Plaza in Gresham, Portland Covenant Church in Northeast Portland and Congregation Beth Israel in Northwest Portland are open 12-10 p.m. Saturday and will reopen at noon Sunday. The county will make daily announcements about whether shelters will reopen on the following day.

On Friday, there was a cooling center open at The Hugo on Northeast 82nd Avenue. That center is not reopening Saturday because of issues with the HVAC system, but staff will be on site to redirect people to the open cooling centers.

TriMet won't turn away anyone riding to or from a cooling center who cannot pay fare between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily through Monday.

A couple dozen people took advantage of Multnomah County's cooling shelters on Friday, county officials said.

Additionally, Multnomah County Library is extending the hours at the Central and Gresham libraries until 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday to offer additional spots for people to cool off.

Washington County's two severe weather shelters opened in Beaverton and Hillsboro at noon on Thursday, county spokesperson Hameed Alnassar said. Those shelters are open 24 hours a day at least through Monday and potentially longer depending on the weather, Alnassar said.

Multnomah County centers are located at:

Cook Plaza,

Portland Covenant Church, 4046 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland

Congregation Beth Israel, 1972 N.W. Flanders St., Portland

Washington County:

Washington Street Conference Center, 102 S.W. Washington St., Hillsboro

Beaverton Community Center, 12350 S.W. 5th St., Beaverton

Clark County:

Mill Plain United Methodist Church at 15804 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd. in Vancouver. Open 2-8 p.m. Saturday.

Living Hope Church at 2711 N.E. Andresen Road in Vancouver. Open 2:30-7 p.m. Saturday and 1-7 p.m. Sunday.

Multnomah County is also looking for volunteers to help at the cooling centers. Visit the Volunteer at a County Emergency Shelter page for more information.