The Reno-Sparks Heat Mapping Project has successfully completed its temperature mapping campaign, releasing detailed data and modeled temperature maps for the Truckee Meadows communities. The initiative was led by the Nevada State Climate Office at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), with support from climate scientists at the Desert Research Institute (DRI). Over 100 local volunteers participated in this project.
Project leader Tom Albright, Deputy State Climatologist and Associate Professor of geography at UNR, emphasized the importance of understanding extreme heat. "The primary goal for this project is understanding the variability in space and time of dangerously high temperatures," he stated. He noted that Nevada is one of the fastest warming states due to climate change.
In 2024, heat was attributed to 491 deaths in Nevada. The last decade is believed to be among the hottest in over 125,000 years. The campaign took place on August 10th and revealed significant temperature variability across nearly 200 square miles during different times of day.
The results show parts of the community were over 20°F warmer than others during mid-afternoon hours. Low elevation areas with extensive paved surfaces experienced higher temperatures compared to cooler regions with more vegetation and higher elevations.
John Mejia, Associate Research Professor of climatology at DRI, highlighted how these findings will aid urban heat modeling research: “By creating a digital twin of the Reno-Sparks region, we can simulate various heat mitigation strategies.”
A Heat Summit is planned for May 2025 to discuss these findings further. Brian Beffort, Washoe County Sustainability Manager, remarked on the usefulness of this data: “These heat data are incredibly helpful for Washoe County as we work to find solutions for the region’s increasing heat.”
This project forms part of NOAA's Heat Island Mapping Campaign and involved contributions from multiple organizations including local governments and community groups.