The 2021 heat dome was Washington’s deadliest weather disaster on record.

In a new report, written with colleagues at universities and the Washington State Department of Health and released ahead of the two-year anniversary of the heat wave, we show how municipal planning agencies, parks departments, local health agencies, community-based organizations like churches and nonprofits, multiple state agencies, hospitals, public health professionals and emergency response personnel, as well as individuals and families, can play a vital role in reducing risk.

To prepare, cities, neighborhoods, companies, and individuals can take steps now that can reduce the harm. Blackouts during severe heat waves can also leave residents who believe they are protected because they have in-home air conditioners at unexpected risk. People in urban heat islands - areas with few trees and lots of asphalt and concrete that can absorb and radiate heat - saw temperatures as much as 14 F (7.8 C) higher than that.Įxtreme heat disasters like this are becoming increasingly common in regions where high heat used to be rare. Imagine having no way to cool your home as temperatures spiked to 108 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) and 120 F (49 C) in some places. In Spokane, nearly one-quarter of survey respondents didn’t have in-home air conditioning, and among those who did, 1 in 5 faced significant, often financial, barriers to using it. The heat dome that descended upon the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021 met a population radically unprepared for it.Īlmost two-thirds of households earning US$50,000 or less and 70 percent of rented houses in Washington’s King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties had no air conditioning.

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