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Spokane is one of 14 cities that will join heat island mapping efforts this year. Dozens of other locations around the country have mapped heat islands in recent years.
Last summer, at least 16 people in Spokane County died as a result of environmental heat exposure or hyperthermia, according to death information from the Spokane County Medical Examiner. With a record-breaking heat wave hammering the Pacific Northwest late last June, when temperatures soared higher than 110 degrees Fahrenheit, many struggled to stay cool enough, with little reprieve at night.
Now, Spokane is among 14 cities that will measure and map "urban heat islands" this summer, with the help of specialized equipment from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The mapping effort will help determine which parts of the city are hardest hit on the hottest days of the year, and could help the city better plan for and make decisions during extreme heat events. Heat islands can be 20 degrees hotter than nearby neighborhoods, and NOAA notes that, on average, more people died of heat than from any other type of weather event in the last 30 years.
Volunteers, who can learn how to sign up at gonzaga.edu/BeatTheHeat, will drive around the city on a set day when temperatures are among the highest the area sees in any given year. The equipment will measure temperature, location and humidity every second of the trips they'll set out on in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
The groups will go out on one set day in July or August to take the measurements, says Brian Henning, founder and director of Gonzaga University's Center for Climate, Society and the Environment, which is helping organize the effort. The selected day will need to have clear skies and no wildfire smoke, so multiple backup days may be queued up in case conditions change.
"It doesn't need to be on the hottest day of the year because what they’re trying to find are where the differentials are in the community," Henning says.
For example, if a shady, tree-filled park is measured at 90 degrees, while a nearby bus stop surrounded by pavement is 105 degrees, that's a good indication the bus stop will be significantly hotter than the park on any given summer day, he says.
The data will be mapped, and it can then be layered with other demographic information, such as income levels and ethnicities, which can help illustrate disproportionate impacts and help the city focus on environmental justice, he says.
"We have anecdotal evidence that northeast Spokane has much more street cover and more concentrated heat islands," Henning says. "This will allow us to have more concrete evidence."
Some solutions could include designating specific buildings such as community centers or schools as cooling centers, and posting signs so people know where their closest cooling center is located, Henning says.
Other solutions might include planting vegetation in specific areas, or recommending building changes like lighter paint on rooftops or cooler pavement options.
The mapping effort will be followed up by a community survey to gather qualitative examples of heat impacts throughout the city.
The team leading the project has also been offered up to $10,000 in a matching grant if the community donates $10,000 (info on the Beat the Heat website) to help the team do more in-depth focus group work with the data, Henning says.
Other organizations involved in the effort include KXLY (meteorologist Kris Crocker helped make sure the other groups knew to apply for this summer's mapping effort), The Lands Council, 350 Spokane, and the Spokane City Council Sustainability Action Subcommittee.
While some heat death info from last year is still being finalized by health officials, here is a map of 2021 heat dome deaths where the Spokane County Medical Examiner determined heat was the cause or played a significant role. It was created by the Gonzaga Climate Center and may be updated as more information becomes available:
