Dallas leaders, volunteers team with NOAA to uncover city's hot spots
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - The city of Dallas and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration joined forces for a massive study that will identify the hottest parts of the city and helps residents stay cool on hot days.
Sometimes it can feel like there's no relief from the heat. Some Dallas residents used a fountain to cool off Saturday.
"The whole city is a heat island," said Kevin Overton, the Senior Environmental Coordinator for the Office Of Environmental Quality And Sustainability.
All that asphalt and buildings and not a lot of trees and has created a heat island here in the city of Dallas.
"If you get into some of the neighborhoods with older trees and vegetation, that tends to mitigate the heat impacts," Overton said. "Whereas if you go into a commercial area with lots of asphalt and lots of parking lots and lots of buildings then the heat is going to collect and be more of a heat island."
That's why Dallas was selected to be a part of a nationwide study on heat islands.
"I notice it downtown," said Bruce Richardson-Tilley, a volunteer. "Here more it's just a lot more concrete and pavement and all that stuff so it feels much hotter than it does in North Dallas where I live."
And they needed volunteers to help out - 70 of them.
"It's been really exciting to see their enthusiasm and to see how much they love their city and their community," said Maritza Figy, the Climate Coordinator City of Dallas Office Environmental Quality & Sustainability
Volunteers like Richardson-Tilley and his partner gave up their time to help out using a sensor they attached to their car windows.
"It's just something I thought was a need," Richardson-Tilley said. "I thought it was fun to drive."
Each pair of volunteers will drive for an hour on one of the nine routes the city identified. All in, volunteers will cover 100 square miles of the city. Tracking the temperature and humidity as they go.
And they picked the perfect day to do it.
"I think the heat index today is 115, so it's perfect for our study," Figy said.
The city says the results of this study could affect everything from zoning to pavement construction and even where the city puts cooling centers.
"This study will tell us where our worse problems are," said Figy, "and that will allow us to take action."
