Heat Mapping

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Sedona heat map average

Excessive heat zones in Sedona

As part of a detailed urban heat island mapping effort this past summer, the results show that the sections within Sedona’s city limits with the largest areas of asphalt and fewest trees – Uptown, the center of West Sedona, and parts of southern Sedona along State Route 179 – experience the worst aspects of the urban heat island effect, similar to heat patterns in many other cities around the country.

This means that in those excessive heat zones, it could be at least 9.1°F warmer than other areas of Sedona, creating excessive heat for those residents. For the last three decades, extreme heat has been the leading cause of weather-related death in the U.S. Understanding how heat interacts with our built environment and how it impacts public health is important.

Next steps

Creating a heat island map is the first important step in addressing this issue. Now that the city knows what parts of the city are experiencing higher levels of heat during the summer, it is partnering with CAPA Strategies to produce a Sedona and regional specific guidebook, which will provide local decisionmakers with realistic heat reduction solutions to implement.

Sedona urban heat map study

After weeks of planning and coordination between the Sustainability Department, citizen scientists from Sedona, Arizona's State Climatologist, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a heat mapping campaign was successfully completed by collecting thousands of temperature and humidity data points in the morning, afternoon and evening of a long, hot day on June 24th, 2023. Using this information, Climate Adaptation Planning + Analytics (CAPA) analysts were able to generate highly detailed models of urban heat across the study region and throughout the day. With this new information, local decision makers will be better equipped to safeguard human life against the growing impacts of extreme heat.

Please review Sedona's Heat Watch Report for a detailed explanation of the data and maps.

Sedona's urban heat island number

What is an urban heat island?

An Urban Heat Island is formed when heat from the sun interacts with our built environment. Generally speaking, in the worst conditions, the Urban Heat Island Effect can cause built areas to be as much as 20°F hotter when compared to areas outside of a city or areas within a town with more trees, less pavement, or closer to a body of water. Its effect is typically most severe in urban areas with more asphalt and little-to-no vegetation or bodies of water.

Why is it importnt to map our urban heat islands?

Mapping our city’s Urban Heat Island will allow us to determine a few key things. First, it tells us how extreme our heat island can get. Second, it will provide residents and Sedona’s government with a detailed understanding of what parts of the city are experiencing the worst heat, down to the street level. This will allow decision makers to target these areas of town with specific actions and programs like tree plantings or code changes.

Who is most vulnerable to extreme heat?

Extreme heat, made worse by the Urban Heat Island Effect, has been the top cause of weather-related deaths in the US for the past three decades, killing more people than flooding and hurricanes combined. Weather Related Fatality and Injury Statistics.

Extreme heat consistently impacts minorities, low-income households and neighborhoods, older adults (especially if they live alone), infants and toddlers, pregnant women, outdoor workers, first responders, athletes, people experiencing homelessness, and outdoor animals. Follow this link to explore why these groups of people are particularly vulnerable. Who is at risk to extreme heat | HEAT.gov - National Integrated Heat Health Information System.