Last year, Boston declared two heat emergencies, meaning temperatures reached levels that are deemed a threat to health. But because of the complex nature of urban heat, some neighbourhoods are experiencing even more heat than is captured by those warnings.

Patricia Fabian, who works on heat and health at Boston University, has found that a distance of just a few blocks can make a huge difference to temperature. In one week in June 2021, her team measured average temperatures in Chelsea and East Boston that were 3.3C (6F) higher than reported by the National Weather Station for Boston. That station is located at Logan Airport – a short distance as the crow flies but a world away in heat terms. The team measured peak temperatures over 5.6C (10F) higher than the weather station.

“There were neighbourhoods [that met] heat advisory or emergency thresholds for 10 days in the summer, but the city only declared four heat advisory or emergency days,” says Fabian. “Because the heat thresholds are based on temperatures that are predicted from the National Weather Station data, which is measured at the airport.”

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