Town’s restaurants close during record heat

The weather dealt La Conner another bad hand last weekend, three of a kind of daily highs over 90 degrees Saturday-Monday, recorded at the WSU Extension Research Center on Memorial Highway. These may be record high temperatures for Friday through Tuesday in the region. The National Weather Service issued a “Long-Duration, Record-Breaking Heat Event” from its Seattle office June 23 for Friday through Monday and then Monday night extended it until 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Tuesday’s forecast at the Burlington airport was sunny, with a high near 89 degrees.

How hot was it? The riddle that is hardly ever asked in the Pacific Northwest was answered repeatedly last weekend.

All-time high temperature records were set Sunday and Monday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

At 1 p.m. Monday in downtown La Conner, the hazy, blue sky day offered an eye level shimmer, a different mystic light quality. The steady breeze seemed out of place, its warmth more of a desert quality.

Tourists searched out places to eat on First Street but were greeted by signs on most restaurant doors. Calico Cupboard closed at noon, staff unable to stand the heat in the kitchen.

La Conner Seafood & Prime Rib was also staff focused. Their sign noted kitchen temperatures of 120 degrees and that staff deserved a break after battling the heat all weekend.

Nathan Salter and Leslie Grover closed The Salted Grape Saturday afternoon, when their coolers stopped “keeping up.” Showing superb customer relations, they had a large white cooler full of bottled water at the sidewalk in front, its sign reading “Please stay hydrated. Cold water inside – on the house!!!” – and promoted it on Facebook.

The La Conner Pub & Tavern did not open Monday – closed, as they were Sunday evening. The La Conner Brewing Company was also closed Sunday and Monday.

Santo Coyote was dark with its standard closed sign hanging in their window. Neither The Fork at Skagit Bay or Nell Thorn opens on Monday. At 2 p.m. there was no sign that The Oyster & Thistle on Washington Street would be opening.

Saturday, when locals called COA at 6 p.m. about air conditioning, staff replied the ovens had quit working even though staff had gone out to get fans for the kitchen, and so the restaurant was closing. Monday the phone went unanswered.

On Morris Street, neither The Slider Cafe nor NW Fuel opened Monday, the first closed by the combined outside and kitchen heat and the latter first closed Sunday.

Ice cream and coffee, too, could be had at Reclamation Candle and Stompin Grounds. They rounded out Mondays food choices, except due what could be pulled out of Pioneer Markets coolers and freezers.

The Waterfront Cafe was the last restaurant to close. They gave up around 1 p.m., turning people away even though their back deck was full, with every table umbrella erect and completely shading the area.

That left Zoe scooping ice cream in her First Street Tower, though she was out of vanilla and a host of other flavors, with no delivery in the horizon.

A family getting ice cream were deciding to find lunch in Anacortes, it being the coolest place in Skagit County.

Many retailers had their doors open, inviting customers, breezes and heat in. At handmade. la conner and Winston’s General the staff was liberated, the sign reading “Closing early due to the eat. We will be back tomorrow,” though whether that was taped up Monday or Sunday is unknown.

On the home front, gleaning from social media: residents turned off their main computers and unplugged unused appliances for fear the electric grid could be overloaded. Others made pleas to put out water for animals and birds during the heat wave. Rick Dole posted on social media that he had five fans to loan out. The response was very positive. They went fast. Deb Hunt Grant could not resist a pun – “This is so incredibly cool,” she told Dole.

People went on social media asking where they could buy window unit air conditioners in the La Conner area.

Robin Carneen noted: “I’ve been doing radio shows about this during the pandemic and initially many years ago. I interviewed a few Alaskan Natives who warned the world we are heading to – and now are – in big trouble. There is lots of flooding in the villages up there.”

Nancy Crowell offered this about the power source: “It’s definitely good to be aware, but it’s unlikely this is on everyone’s mind,” in reference to protecting the electric grid. “I saw on the news that Puget Sound Energy says they are prepared – but their model was up to 100 degrees. It’s probably a good thing for the grid that most homes and stores don’t have A/C.”

Jeni Platte’s contribution: “I’m not cooking, not turning on lights, not drying laundry. I’m expecting PSE to pay me this month.”