(CNN)-- As temperatures surged past 100 degrees, Bree Oswill gathered all the blankets and towels she could find and taped them to every window that didn't have a shade. She doesn't have central air conditioning and wanted to prevent every bit of sunlight and heat from entering her home.

Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Oswill has become more concerned about the extreme weather changes from wildfires to heat waves she's seeing year after year.

The 44-year-old mother of two likens it to a pandemic, but never-ending.

"It's like a lockdown, but we're not going to solve it by putting on a mask or getting a vaccine," Oswill told CNN. "It's just sort of perpetual. It's scary."

A historic heat wave is searing much of the Pacific Northwest, and it is not yet July — a month when Oswill and many Portland residents typically experience the hottest days of the year.

Portland set an all-time record high temperature three days in a row. Seattle also bested its own record, set Sunday. Across the border, Lytton, British Columbia, also broke all time records on Sunday and Monday, registering temperatures that were a shocking 48 degrees above normal.