...
Other models shared this early prediction of the event. Dr Cliff Mass, at the University of Washington, shared these plots from Dr Alicia Bentley (NOAA) web site. They show the GFS ensemble standardized anomalies, for which height anomalies were in excess of 3 standard deviations above normal for the location in question:
Some discussion that took place prior to the event. From Paul Wolyn:
"The GFS and EC have southeast flow at 850mb over the OR and WA. Could the southeast flow advect the heating from the elevated mixed layer over central Oregon into the PDX and maybe the SEA area? Much of central Oregon is at 4000 to 5000 feet MSL. I wonder if this could be contributing to the extreme temperatures in the model runs. It could be the "perfect" combination of many factors leading to the extreme heat."
...