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Metro staff propose declaring extreme heat a regional threat and designating May 1–Sept. 30 heat season
Summary
Metro staff presented a draft resolution asking Metro Council to declare extreme heat and climate change a critical, growing threat and to designate a May 1–Sept. 30 regional heat season to better coordinate outreach, monitoring and resilience actions across counties and local partners.
Metro staff presented a draft resolution asking the Metro Council to declare extreme heat and climate change “critical and growing threats” to the greater Portland region and to designate May 1 through Sept. 30 as the region’s official heat season.
Kim Ellis, regional transportation planning manager at Metro, opened the presentation and turned the discussion to Jai Daniels, an associate transportation and climate planner at Metro, who said the resolution grows out of last year’s Cooling Corridor study and was developed in consultation with public‑health staff from Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties and the Oregon Health Authority.
Daniels said the Cooling Corridor study identified 47 supporting actions, and that designating a regionwide heat season is the study’s first recommended step. “Extreme heat is actually the deadliest weather‑related disaster, killing more people on average than hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and lightning,” Daniels said, and noted the region’s 2020 wildfires and the 2021 heat dome as driving urgency. He said the resolution would not replace existing agency protocols but would help align monitoring, public messaging and regionwide coordination.
Metro staff described three principal elements of the draft: 1) formally recognize extreme heat and climate change as threats that require coordinated regional attention; 2) designate May 1–Sept. 30 as the region’s heat season (with the possibility of adjusting the dates as conditions change); and 3) strengthen internal Metro operations and partnerships with local and state agencies to support adaptation work.
Staff pointed to a Miami‑Dade County model cited during the Cooling Corridor work: Miami‑Dade designated a May 1–Oct. 31 heat season and implemented a protocol that included outreach to roughly 3 million people and a small grants program for businesses to buy shade and hydration equipment. Metro staff said that counties in the Portland region already observe May–September monitoring windows and that the resolution would formalize regional alignment.
Public‑sector attendees broadly welcomed the proposal. Councilor Pratt commended Metro for acting ahead of worsening climate impacts. Several local elected officials urged language and examples that clearly include suburban and smaller cities, not only Portland, and asked Metro to be explicit about coordination with county public‑health messaging and on how regional resources would be targeted.
Pamela, a member of the public who spoke during the discussion period, urged attention to tree maintenance and invasive ivy that she said is damaging tree canopy in some neighborhoods; Metro staff said they would factor maintenance and local capacity concerns into implementation discussions.
Next steps: staff said MTAC and EMPAC will review the draft and that Metro will bring recommendations back to council in April after integrating committee feedback.
