More trees, less heat

Parts of Las Vegas with more trees (darker green) are cooler, on average, than parts of the city with fewer trees (lighter green). Heat data was collected in August 2022 by the Heat Watch campaign.

Afternoon heat index

86° F

89°

92°

95°

98°

101°

Tree cover

Less than 5%

5-10%

10-15%

15-20%

20-25%

More than 25%

Notes

Heat data was collected by a joint federal-state effort called the Heat Watch campaign, which traveled various routes in Clark County, Nev., between 3 and 4 p.m. on Aug. 13, 2022. It collected temperature data and then modeled heat across the entire county. That day was unexpectedly cloudy, keeping overall temperatures lower than expected.

Source: Heat data from the 2022 Heat Watch campaign in Clark County, Nev.; 2022 tree data from the Nevada Division of Forestry; roads from OpenStreetMap

Credit: Brent Jones/NPR