Temperature and Health
Utah experiences both extreme heat and extreme cold. Learn how to protect yourself from these conditions below.
The Basics
- Stay safe during extreme winter weather and cold temperatures
Prepare for cold temperatures and winter weather with these tips from Ready.gov.
- Stay safe during extreme heat
Utah's Violence and Injury Prevention Program provides an overview of extreme heat and health. This will help you understand who is most impacted by heat, how to recognize heat-related illness, and how to protect yourself.
You can also refer to this flyer for helpful tips for before and during a heat emergency.
- Check on loved ones and neighbors during extreme weather
Plan to check in with your loved ones or neighbors when extreme weather is forecasted. Have them do the same for you.
Interested in learning more?
Additional Resources
Heat
Red Cross Heat Safety Checklist
Factsheet on how to be prepared when extreme heat is in the forecast.
CDC Heat and Health Site Index
Information about the connection between heat and health and guides for groups with additional risk.
Heat-Related Illness Warning Signs
Symptoms of heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and sunburn, and what to do if you experience them.
SLC Cool Zones (Cooling Centers)
Resource for Salt Lake residents to find their nearest cooling center. Residents in other counties should call the 211 line for local cooling centers.
Cold
Learn more about cold stress, who is at risk, and how extreme cold can impact your health.
This statewide program provides alerts for counties where temperatures drop below 18 degrees Fahrenheit. When alerts are issued, homeless shelters expand their services. This website displays Code Blue information on an easy to navigate map.
Code Blue Sheltering Resources
By selecting the "Get Help" dropdown at the top of the screen, find emergency shelters to escape cold weather in your county.
Vector-Borne Diseases
Temperature change can expand insect's range and active season. Explore this webpage to learn more about ticks in Utah, how to prevent tick exposure, and other data and resources.
Learn more about arbovirus infections in Utah and how you can protect yourself.
Additional Data
Heat
Health Indicator Report of Temperature on Health
Annual average maximum heat in the warm season from 2001–2019 in Utah counties.
The Heat Index is a measure of how hot it really feels when relative humidity is factored in with the actual air temperature. Heat index is an important consideration for the human body's comfort and is often called the "feels-like" temperature.
HeatRisk provides a forecast for the risk of heat-related impacts. This tool takes into consideration how unusual the heat is for the time of the year, humidity, the duration of the heat, and if temperatures pose an elevated risk for health complications.
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature uses temperature, humidity, and other weather parameters like sun angle, cloud cover, and wind to determine health impacts. The tool is an effective indicator of heat stress for active populations.
Cold
Utah State Hazard Mitigation Plan
The Severe Weather chapter of this Utah report provides decades of data on the impact of severe weather on Utah’s residents and economy. Included in this report is extreme cold and winter storms.
Vector-Borne Diseases
Mosquito-Borne Disease Reports
View data on West Nile Virus and other mosquito-borne diseases in Utah.
