Get Ready For Summer Heat With Heat Risk Information – Everett Post

The Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference was held early this month at the Lynnwood Convention Center. Nearly 300 people attended including public and private sector emergency management personnel, non-profits, businesses, health care personnel, fire and law enforcement staff, utilities, and more.

One of the presentations involved representatives from the National Weather Service (NWS). Late in June last year, we suffered the Heat Dome event with temperatures soaring to all-time records. The NWS is fine-tuning their relatively new Heat Risk program for this year as more weather and human health impact data is used from these rare events.

What is Heat Risk? It is a forecast that encompasses far more than just daytime and nighttime temperatures. It also includes humidity, cloud cover, wind, length of day, and other weather elements that all play a role in human health during heat waves.

The Heat Risk forecast provides a color and numeric value that translates forecast heat for a specific location into an appropriate level of heat concern, along with identifying groups of people potentially most at risk at that heat level. Heat risk is accompanied by heat protection recommendations and is a useful tool for planning for upcoming excessive heat events and its associated potential risk.

As summer approaches with our warmest weather of the year, the Heat Risk forecast information is a tool all in the North Sound can use when temperatures are soar. The odds of another Heat Dome like last year are quite slim. But at this point with the ongoing warming planet, another Heat Dome this summer cannot be ruled out. Even without a Heat Dome, heat waves with temperatures well into the 90s, or even cracking the century mark can create heat related health risks.

The Heat Risk forecast information for the North Sound and much of Western Washington can be found at this website. For other states in the Western US, visit the statewide Heat Risk website. You will find forecast color categories ranging from green to the highest level – magenta. The Heat Dome event from late last June was in the magenta color.

The Heat Risk description website provides details about each color category including the meaning of the color category, who is at risk, how common is this heat, and what actions are recommended to take. The Heat Dome event late last June impacted everyone, and recommended all avoid being outdoors during the heat of the day, stay in a cool place, drink plenty of water, and cancel outdoor events during the heat of the day.

The fine-tuned Heat Risk forecast information for this year will lower weather element thresholds a bit based upon the data and lessons learned from all the hot weather across the Western US in 2021 and recent prior years. One key element will involve more strongly weighted heat health thresholds in the Heat Risk forecast information.

With the seasonal weather outlook highlighting yet another warmer than average summer ahead, keep these new Heat Risk tools at hand by bookmarking them. The heat related information can help keep you informed during heat waves, and take appropriate action to help avoid heat stress, heat exhaustion, or even death. Monitor the everettpost.com weather page for your North Sound location’s latest 7-day and hourly forecasts.