Check out these new ‘HeatRisk’ tools to stay up to date on US heat waves

Extreme heat is in store for communities across the U.S. this week, and the CDC and National Weather Service (NWS) have new tools to help people prepare for the health risks.

Heat is the leading climate-related killer in the USA, a threat that is worsening with climate change. But while heat waves kill an estimated 1,220 people in the U.S., According to the CDC, health risks can often go unnoticed. Heat waves do not necessarily provoke the same sense of urgency as tropical storms, for example, which are named and categorized according to their intensity.

This year, it’s easier to see how any impending heat wave could impact your area thanks to the HeatRisk tools released by the CDC and NWS this year. You can go to the HeatRisk Panel and enter your zip code to see health forecasts and recommendations for your area. For a broader look at how the heat is impacting the U.S., check out a photo Experimental online HeatRisk prediction tool with a new color-coded system for assessing health risks.

“With hurricanes and tornadoes, they can get a lot more attention because you can visibly see the damage that occurs. But with the heat, it’s much harder to really see the impact unless it affects you,” says Jessica Lee, NWS public weather services program coordinator. “The main thing we hope to achieve with HeatRisk is that it will be used by individuals to help them personalize what the heat forecast will mean for them and better understand what actions they may need to take.”

More than 72.9 million people — more than a fifth of the population — are under active heat advisories what a record heat wave is like forecast which will spread across much of the central and northeastern US this week. Open the National Weather Service HeatRisk Tool, and you’ll see a map of the contiguous US in flames of yellow, orange, red, and magenta. Each color is a warning about the possible impacts that heat may have on a given location on each day of the week.

For now, much of the Northwest is green, denoting “little or no risk of the expected heat”. Yellow indicates a “lower” risk level, although it can still affect people more susceptible to heat-related illnesses – especially those who spend time outdoors. “Moderate” risk, defined as affecting “most heat-sensitive individuals, especially those without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration,” is labeled in orange.

Children and elderly tend to be more vulnerable. Children’s bodies are less efficient at cooling, and older adults may be taking medications that affect the body’s ability to thermoregulate or may have health problems that heat can worsen. It’s a good idea to check in on loved ones who live alone or have chronic health problems during an orange alert.

Red and magenta correspond to “major” and “extreme” health risks, respectively. At these levels, anyone can be at risk if they have no way to cool off and stay hydrated. Parts of Texas and states in the Midwest, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and New England are predicted to face “extreme” risk episodes this week. This is considered rare as it usually takes a prolonged heat wave with increasing day and night temperatures to reach magenta level risk.

It is important to understand how heat interacts with an individual’s health history and the environment around them. Urban sprawl tends to trap heat, making urban neighborhoods feel much hotter than more rural areas. Meanwhile, cities in the Southwest may be better prepared for temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit than the typically colder regions of the Pacific Northwest, where air conditioning is not as common. The heat can even worsen air pollution in your area, overloading the chemical reaction that creates smog. Entering your zip code into CDC HeatRisk Panel addresses many of these nuances, sharing information about air quality in addition to color-coded HeatRisk scores for the week and actions to take to protect your health.

The two websites released on Earth Day, April 22 this year. The tools are based on a similar system used in California since 2013, which expanded to other Western states in 2017. Early iterations focused on climatological data, such as comparing rising temperatures to the norm for that area. Shortly thereafter, the NWS began working with the CDC to incorporate health information into its assessments and account for more moisture in the eastern half of the US.

HeatRisk is still an “experimental product” while agencies continue to receive public feedback on it until September 30th through a online form. They will then decide whether to implement changes based on that feedback and/or continue receiving feedback. In 2022, the US launched another website called heat.gov to help urban planners stay up to date with heat warnings and incorporate this data into their decision-making.