Stay Warm: Urban Surface Heat on Cold Days

I heard a rumor that it's winter: as it cools down, did you know that surface temperatures might vary slightly from what the weather report indicates? Surface temperatures can much be lower or much higher than the atmospheric conditions.

Certain surfaces act as buffers—for example, trees and green space can mitigate large swings in temperature. 

Here is a visualization of the surface temperatures last year, on January 1, when the ambient temperature was around 32° F. Here we are looking at the Forest View neighborhood on the southeast side of Lansing. You can see that the different areas of the city vary a lot depending on several factors.

Earlier this year, I looked at the effects of surface on heat in Lansing.