LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – As the Las Vegas Valley finally starts to feel some relief from the summer’s record-breaking heat, groups are finally getting the chance to prepare for next summer.
According to the Clark County Coroner there were 342 heat-related deaths as of Sept. 26. That’s nearly triple the number of lives claimed on the roadways so far this year in the LVMPD’s jurisdiction.
The heat is on track to get worse, all five of the hottest years on record in Las Vegas were from 2016 and later, with 2024 holding the number one spot.
“Experiencing a summer like this, with the heat that we had, absolutely added urgency to the conversation,” Southern Nevada Heat Resilience Lab Lead Ariel Choinard said.
Now, there’s a place for that conversation.
Ariel Choinard created the Southern Nevada Heat Resilience Lab, which provides one place for groups to work together on their response to extreme heat.
Clark County Social Services is one of the roughly 90 participants.
Last summer, the County activated cooling centers when they got an extreme heat warning from the National Weather Service. Now, Director of Social Services Jamie Sorenson says they’re looking into activating them at lower temperatures, and possibly keeping some open for 24 hours.
“Even in the evenings as we all experienced this last summer, things didn’t cool down much,” Sorenson says.
The Southern Nevada Health District says they plan to open pop-up cooling centers in areas that saw a high number of heat deaths, and staff them with medical corps volunteers.
“Our medical reserve corps volunteers can really assess the signs and symptoms of extreme heat, heat exhaustion,” SNHD’s Public Health Preparedness Manager Jeff Quinn says.
The Health District also plans to use grant money to buy RTC bus passes to hand out, so people can get to those cooling centers for free.
And, to keep people cool while waiting, RTC Spokesperson Paul Gully says they will add 260 transit shelters, with shade and seating, in the next two years.
There are longer term plans in the works, too.
Choinard says they brought on a researcher to study how landscape and shade can help with heat. They also hope to run a cooling center study this summer, and will use those results to guide them moving forward.
To learn more about the Southern Nevada Heat Resilience Lab, click here.
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