A Seattle meteorologist sparks controversy by diving into heat wave climate science

SEATTLE — On Thursday, June 24, as the Northwest's record-shattering heat wave approached, Cliff Mass posted a forecast he found hard to believe. By Monday, temperatures near the western Cascades foothills would exceed 108 degrees and they would reach 104 degrees and higher around Puget Sound. "The event being predicted is so extreme and so beyond expectations that my natural inclination is to dismiss it," Mass wrote. "But I can't." His blog succinctly captured the historic event about to unfold in the kind of post that has helped make Mass, a professor at the University of Washington's Depart...