Iowa City Today

The City’s Climate Action Office is excited to announce its partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at our Spot the Hot Kickoff Event, from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, June 10, 2023, at Mercer Park. 

Spot the Hot is part of NOAA's Urban Heat Island mapping campaign, where residents across the country collect data on areas within their communities where a lack of tree cover and other factors result in higher temperatures than in the surrounding area. Such areas are known as heat islands.

Information gathered to help map these areas can help local decision-makers better address the health impacts of extreme heat.

Come learn how you can be a part of this important project to help us better understand climate impacts in our community.

Fun games and activities for the entire family will be featured as part of the day’s programming thanks to our Parks and Recreation Department. Visitors can pick up free climate resilience kits, register to sign-up as Spot the Hot volunteer, learn more about avoiding heat exhaustion from Johnson County Public Health, participate in a DIY air conditioning craft project, and more!

The event will introduce the Spot the Hot initiative to Iowa City residents, while also starting the push for volunteers to help us collect temperature data in the hottest spots of town later this summer.

Iowa City also has partnered with the City of Cedar Rapids as part of this exciting program, which will be hosting an event on June 3, 2023 to recruit community volunteers to help map heat islands in Cedar Rapids as well. More information on that event can be found on the City of Cedar Rapids website.

Help us identify key Iowa City locations

Residents can also help by adding a pin to this interactive map to help identify places that they would avoid on the hottest days. These locations will be used to help configure the routes volunteers will follow to gather temperature information. 

Original source can be found here.