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King County Heat and Health Data Explorer Tool
Learn how to use the King County Heat and Health Data Explorer Tool.
Welcome to the King County Heat and Health Data Explorer!
This tool is designed to help you visualize heat islands in King County (mapped by census block), understand what factors contribute to heat exposure and risk, and better plan for extreme heat before it happens.
Using the tool, you can explore local data to identify areas most vulnerable to extreme heat, assess contributing factors, and support evidence-based decision-making for heat mitigation strategies and community planning. While this tool can be an invaluable resource for strategic planning and policy development, please note that it is not intended for emergency response or real-time decision-making during heat events.
We advise you to:
- Review the User Guide for the tool for step-by-step instructions.
- Watch the video tutorial below to see the tool in action.
- Then, try it for yourself!
About the Heat and Health Data Explorer Tool
In connection with the King County Extreme Heat Mitigation Strategy, King County has developed the Heat and Health Data Explorer Tool to support data-informed decision making for heat risk reduction. This tool is designed to help users visualize heat islands in King County, understand what factors contribute to heat exposure and risk, and plan for extreme heat.
This page contains a links to the tool, instructions on how to use the tool, and additional resources related to extreme heat mitigation in King County. We encourage you to read through the manual or watch the instructional video prior to using the tool. See the image below for a layout of the tool.
Access the Heat & Health Data Explorer
User Guide & Technical Documentation
What is in the Heat and Health Data Explorer Tool?
This tool provides a combination of data layers and filters to help users understand and analyze heat islands in King County. The tool uses temperature data collected during a July 2020 heat mapping campaign to visualize relative heat exposure at the census block level. It also includes data related to environment, equity, and health such as urban tree canopy coverage, adults with diabetes, and severe housing cost burden to show areas where these factors converge, resulting in higher heat risk. While this tool is intended to support with strategic planning and policy development, please note that it is not meant for emergency response or real-time decision-making during heat events. We encourage you to consult local government staff and/or community groups to better understand mapping results and plan interventions.
Functions include…
- Visualize extreme heat by jurisdiction (including some urban unincorporated areas), King County Council district, school district, individual addresses, and census block
- Visualize the spatial distribution of environmental factors such as tree canopy coverage and equity factors such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index
- Filter the map by environment, equity, or health factors relevant to your questions
- Download the data in .csv, Esri File Geodatabase (.gdb), and GeoPackage (.gpkg) formats
Some questions this tool can help users answer are…
- Where are the hottest parts of my community?
- What is the relationship between the hottest parts of the county and disparities in health and socioeconomic status?
- Where should I focus efforts to conduct educational outreach to residents at higher risk of heat impacts?
- Where should I focus tree planting efforts?
- How can I visually show heat exposure and risk to funders, decision makers, and other audiences?
Video Tutorial
This 11-minute video orients users to the features and functions of the tool, and it is recommended viewing for first-time users.
Terms of Use
The information included on this digital document has been compiled by King County staff from a variety of sources and is subject to change without notice. King County makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, as to accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or rights to the use of such information. This document is not intended for use as a survey product. King County shall not be liable for any general, special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages including, but not limited to, lost revenues or lost profits resulting from the use or misuse of the information contained in this document. Any sale of this document or information contained in it is prohibited except by written permission of King County.