PORTLAND, Oregon — Portland is once again dealing with high temperatures this summer. Now Portland metro counties teamed up this weekend to determine which neighborhoods are most susceptible to extreme heat.
On Saturday, around 100 volunteers drove around Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah County collecting heat and humidity data. They used sensors that stuck outside of their passenger windows to determine how hot a neighborhood was Saturday.
One neighborhood could be up to 18 degrees hotter than another, based on the amount of shade and pavement, Multnomah County officials said. Neighborhoods that are much hotter are called heat islands.
“When we have had really hot days, we do see an increase in heat related illness,” Washington County Public Health Senior Program Coordinator Kathleen Johnson said.
This is the first heat mapping project in which the Portland metro-area counties worked together.
“We’re really trying to center the health aspect of it,” Johnson said. “And really preserve human life and prevent illness.”
Johnson said in 2021, during the heat dome, nearly 100 people died in the metro area. Temperatures reached a record high 116 degrees in late June.
"We need more trees,” Volunteer Patti Lamborn said. “We need to come up with maybe better ways to pave our road that doesn't reflect as much heat."
County officials said data will be available by the end of the year. It will also be used to update Multnomah County’s heat vulnerability index.
Through the data, officials plan to add more tree canopies and cooling centers in places most heavily impacted by rising temperatures.