Heat inequities to be studied in Fort Wayne this summer

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – A global weather-related research project is coming to Fort Wayne this summer.

The city will be one of 14 United States cities, along with four international cities, participating in an urban heat island mapping project. An urban heat island is when select areas in a city are warmer than surrounding rural areas, due to the replacement of natural land cover with pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that retain heat. Sometimes an urban heat island can be 15 to 20 degrees warmer than surrounding areas.

The goal of the project is to map which parts of Fort Wayne are the hottest, then this data will be used to find solutions that help provide cooling relief to these areas that are the hottest.

This study will be conducted on the hottest day of the summer. The National Weather Service, along with community leaders and volunteers, hope to find a day in mid-July into August when the weather is the hottest. They will also be looking for a day that is dry and as cloud-free as possible.

On the day that is selected, volunteers will drive specific routes in the city in the morning, afternoon, and evening to map the urban heat island. Temperature and relative humidity sensors will be mounted to vehicles and how these numbers vary across the city will determine which areas are seeing the most significant urban heat island.

There will not be any impact to your daily life during this project and it is yet to be determined when the results will be completed and released when the study has concluded.

The ultimate goal is to be able to see where the heat inequities lie in Fort Wayne and to develop a plan to reduce the effects of an urban heat island in the city. Tree cover, green roofs, green walls, and different building plans can be developed in the hottest areas to help make these areas more comfortable during the peak heat of the summer.

Kyle Brown, Meteorologist at the National Weather Service Northern Indiana, says “I think it’s very exciting that all folks involved have taken an interest in recognizing that there is an urban heat island and by choosing to map this at a really high level…high resolution, it’s really exciting to think of the impacts that can happen with this data. You know, we can make changes and improve and reduce the urban heat island by adding more green spaces, more tree cover, you know, reducing pavement that’s going to absorb heat…things like that. So, I think it’s a very positive thing and exciting thing for Fort Wayne.”

He also adds that while the summer is not warming significantly in our area, there has been a notable increase in warm nights. This means we have not seen as much relief from the heat at night, especially in areas where the urban heat island effect is present.

This is the 8th year for this mapping project. Cities nearby that are also participating this year include Bloomington, Indiana, and Flint, Michigan. Chicago, Illinois, is a nearby city that has been a part of past studies. The international component also exists because solutions need to be applied overseas as the climate continues to warm. You can find a map of participating cities below.

This project exists because heat is the number one weather-related killer over the past 30 years. About 1,200 people were killed just last year in the United States because of extreme heat, according to Brown.

To learn more details about this study, click here . To learn more about extreme heat, visit this link . We will keep you updated on what date the study will occur this summer and when the results are shared!

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