Erie County Department of Environment & Planning to host presentation on county's extreme temperature plan

Extreme weather events underscore need for community resiliency

Submitted by the Director of Communications, Office of the Erie County Executive

The Erie County Department of Environment and planning will join partners at noon Monday, Jan. 19, at Delavan Grider Community Center to host a public presentation about the county’s extreme temperature plan. The event will also showcase the results of a citizen science heat mapping campaign completed in August.

In 2025 Erie County began work on an extreme temperature plan to better prepare and respond to extreme heat and cold weather events. Working across departments and with many community partners, the plan will identify opportunities for coordination along with actions the county can take to protect the community.

This effort is one of the action items in the Erie County Community Climate Action Plan, which provides a vital roadmap to reduce climate pollution and make the community more resilient to extreme weather.

In addition to a presentation about the extreme temperature planning process, the meeting will also include an overview of results from the heat watch campaign. In August, over 60 community volunteers took part in a citizen science campaign and collected data about the distribution of heat as part of an effort to map where people are most at risk during extreme heat waves. The maps will be discussed during the presentation and are being incorporated into the county’s planning effort. The project was a partnership of Delavan Grider Community Center, University at Buffalo and Erie County.

Monday’s presentation will be followed by Q&A and discussion. The meeting will be in-person with virtual attendance available if needed. Registration for this free event can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/ECTempPlan.

This project has been funded in part by the Climate Smart Community Grant Program through the NYS DEC.

For more information on the Department of Environment and Planning, visit https://www3.erie.gov/environment/.