Heat Resources
Our most vulnerable communities, often residing in areas with high concentrations of asphalt and lack of tree coverage, can experience over a fifteen degree temperature difference throughout the day. To be proactive in the fight against extreme heat, Albuquerque is focused on urban space tree planting, expanding access to green spaces, and continuing to explore new cooling interventions.
On this page, you will find:
Heat Awareness and Response 
Heat Mitigation 
NM Urban Heat Cohort 
Additional Heat Resources
Be Aware
Each year in the metro area, over 60,000 emergency room visits are due to heat-related illness. Here are tools to help keep you and your community safe this summer.
- Know the symptoms to stay safe this summer.
- Symptoms of Heat Stroke: Body temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, nausea, dizziness, and a fast, strong pulse.
- Symptoms of Heat Exhaustion: Heavy sweating, muscle cramps, clammy skin, and a fast, weak pulse.
- Sign up for Air Quality Alerts. Health alerts are typically issued because of elevated levels of dust, smoke or ozone.
- Sign up for ABQALERT, the City of Albuquerque’s official emergency alert and community notification system.
- Download the OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool App. The app can alert you to potentially hazardous conditions, provides suggestions for staying safe, and outlines the signs, symptoms, and care for heat-related illness. Learn more about the app from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
- View the City's Beat the Heat flyer.
- Find ways to stay cool this summer.
Learn
Be prepared, if you want to learn more about extreme heat, here are resources from key national organizations.
- National Integrated Heat Health Information System's Heat Equity Map
- EPA Smart Growth and Urban Heat Islands (en español)
- NOAA Heat Watch vs. Warning, what's the difference?
- NOAA Heat Safety Flyer
- NOAA Heat Safety Brochure
- NOAA Heat Resources (en español)
- EPA Beat the Heat
- EPA "It's Too Darn Hot"
- CDC Extreme Heat (en español)
Respond
Take action to keep yourself, your loved ones, and your community safe this summer.
- Volunteer. Become a part of a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
- Shield yourself from the sun. Wear protective, light-colored clothing, sunscreen, and hats.
- Stay cool.
- Dive into Summer. Beat the Heat by taking a swim at one of Albuquerque’s 7 public pools, or enjoy the fun at city owned splash pads.
- Take a Hike, Do It Right. Get outdoors and enjoy any of the trails here in Albuquerque. Hike early before it heats up, and remember to bring plenty of water.
- Help the City create more shade, pledge to plant a tree today and help reach our 100,000 tree goal.
- Visit the BioPark. Spend a couple hours at the BioPark Aquarium. Learn about marine life while staying cool.
- Keep your pets safe. Learn more about pet-related hot-weather tips.
- Keep your home cool.
- Raise your thermostat. For every degree higher, you can save one to two percent on your energy bill while staying comfortable.
- Turn your ceiling fan counterclockwise to push cool air into your most used spaces.
- Close your blinds to avoid the sun’s rays at the hottest hours of the day.
Learn about our heat mitigation collaborations and plans. Below are links to the City's efforts towards extreme heat, such as heat campaigns, mitigation plans, and tree planting efforts.
- 2022 Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Hazard Mitigation Plan
- 2022 NASA DEVELOP Heat Intervention
- ABQ Heat-Brief
- Cooling Hot Albuquerque Neighborhoods with Tree Planting
- Cooling Intervention Presentation
- City and NASA Collaboration: Project Summary and Technical Report
- Press Release
- 2021 CAPA Urban Heat Watch Campaign
In response to the 2023 summer, where Albuquerque experienced extended days of extreme heat, a spike in emergency visits due to heat-related illness, and a prolonged heat season, the City has created the New Mexico Urban Heat Cohort (NMUHC), the first cohort in the state focusing on extreme heat, the Urban Heat Island Effect, and heat mitigation.
About NMUHC
To build resiliency to extreme heat events, the cohort will have re-occurring meetings before, during, and after the heat season. The cohort will work to continually prepare, building on the NMUHC's mission statement: “Bringing together City departments, community-based organizations, academia, local, regional, and state government agencies to develop strategies that protect our most vulnerable communities during extreme heat events, and together, strategize long and short term mitigation actions.”
Stay Informed
As the NMUHC's collaborative work develops, there will be updates and opportunities to provide public comment. Questions or concerns? You can reach out to [email protected].
Meetings
Meetings are not open to the public at this time, but meeting minutes and other resources are posted here.
August 25, 2023: Inaugural Meeting
September 26, 2023: Last Meeting of the 2023 Heat Season
May 1, 2024: 1st Meeting of the 2024 Heat Season
If you have a question regarding our heat-related efforts, please email us at [email protected].
Heat-Related Illness Contacts
- Life Threatening Emergencies: 911
- Non-Emergency Police Line: 505-242-2672
- Office of Emergency Management: 505-768-2000
- Report a Power Outage (PNM): Text #OUT to 78766
Other Programs and Resources
- PNM's Summer Heat Bill Help Fund assists low-to-moderate income-qualified customers with $150 on their electric bill. Apply online through September 30, 2023.