Mapping project reveals heat islands across Missoula County
(Missoula Current) Climate Smart Missoula and its local partners this week launched a first-of-its-kind heat index and temperature map for Missoula County, revealing heat islands and their potential threat to public health.
The city and county of Missoula also collaborated on the project.
“The aim of Heat Watch is to understand heat distribution across Missoula County and help communities plan and prepare for rising temperatures,” project sponsors stated in a press release. “Amont other findings, the mapping campaign confirmed temperature variability throughout the day and reveal hot spots, or urban heat islands, that exist in the county.”
According to the project, the Westside neighborhood – characterized by large industrial and commercial areas with impervious surfaces – exemplified a heat island. The area stayed hot throughout the day and radiated heat to warm surrounding residential neighborhoods.
The Bonner and Milltown areas east of Missoula, while farther from the urban core, also remained warm and developed hot spots throughout the day.
For comparison, the University District, which boasts a dense, mature tree canopy and lacks surrounding industrial or commercial landscapes, remained cooler than other neighborhoods throughout the day.
“The results of Heat Watch indicate residents living, working and recreating in different parts of the county may have different exposures to high temperatures and hot spots,” the study found. “While some areas may have safe temperatures for outdoor activities, other areas may put people at risk for heat-related illnesses, especially during the warmest afternoon hours.”
Using simple heat sensors mounted to vehicles, volunteers drove assigned routes three times during the day, recording nearly 76,000 air temperature and humidity measurements across 93 square miles of the county.
The publicly available dataset can be downloaded alongside the report and interactive map.
“The number of annual days above 90 degrees is increasing in the county – a trend which is expected to continue as a result of climate change,” the study said. “Heat is the number one weather-related killer nationwide and a growing threat in Montana. These deaths are preventable with proper planning and action.”