Dallas hopes new climate data can help shape strategies to combat the urban heat island effect that leaves some neighborhoods more than 10 degrees warmer on some of our hottest days. When we see those budding signs of spring, there’s not many of us yet focused on those hottest North Texas days we know are coming. But Paul White, interim director for Dallas’ Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability, spends a lot of time studying and discussing all things heat in the city. “I think it’s always cool to talk about the heat island,” White said. “To engage with the residents and with the public just so they understand where they can find the data for when it’s extremely hot outside.” On Thursday, the city shared the findings of its urban heat island study, which was conducted largely by field volunteers driving around in their vehicles equipped with sensors to collect temperature data during the summers of 2023 and 2024. The project covered 241 square miles, 21 unique routes, and comprised more than 152,000 individual measurements. One key takeaway is that the maximum temperature difference in various parts of the city at any given time varied by as much as 12 degrees. See the map here. “In some areas, it could be 90 degrees. At the same time, it could be 102 degrees at another area,” White said. In Dallas, built-up areas around interstates with a lot of concrete and other impervious surfaces held more heat than neighborhoods with significant tree canopies. Urban heat islands Dallas Aug 14, 2024 ‘Cool pavement' providing 10-degree temperature relief in NW Dallas neighborhood climate change Jul 26, 2023 Urban heat islands are making an already broiling summer worse for millions of people climate change Jul 26, 2023 41 Million Americans Sweltering in Urban Heat Islands ...read more read less