NC Heat Health Alert System
Sign up for NC heat alerts
Get heat alerts via email up to twice a week when dangerous heat is headed your way. Stay informed. Stay safe.
Helping you stay safe when the heat is dangerous
North Carolina summers are getting hotter and more humid.
Extreme heat is a major cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S. It's especially dangerous for older adults, children, outdoor workers, pregnant people, athletes, people with health conditions, and people with no air conditioning.
That’s why the NCDHHS Climate and Health team created the Heat Health Alert System. This email alert service warns you when dangerous heat is in the forecast.
Heat Health Alert System Communications Toolkit: Fact sheets, flyers, social media and more
How it works
From May 1 to Sept. 30, we monitor forecasts and send email alerts up to twice a week when the daily maximum heat index is expected to reach dangerous levels in your area. County-level alerts are grouped into emails for each of the eight regions across the state.
NC Heat Health Alert System Heat Index Thresholds
Once you've signed up, you'll get an alert if the heat index is expected to reach these thresholds for your county. Alerts are usually sent on Mondays and Thursdays, and can be used to prepare and plan activities for the next few days. We created different regional thresholds for the early, middle, and late parts of the heat season to account for people getting used to the heat. Counties are grouped into one of eight regions based on similar climate patterns.
Click on or hover over a county in the map below to see the regional thresholds used for that county.
The updated Heat Health Alert System now offers:
- 8 climate regions: Counties grouped by similar weather patterns for more accurate forecasts.
- Season-specific thresholds: Alerts are tailored for early, mid and late summer — because our heat tolerance changes over time.
- Early Season (May-June): Lower thresholds when our bodies aren’t used to heat.
- Mid-Season (late June-early August): Higher thresholds when we’ve adapted.
- Late Season (mid-late August-September): Lower thresholds as summer winds down.
Why it's better
- More accurate: Three times better at spotting dangerous early-season heat than the old system.
- Locally relevant: Based on 15 years of North Carolina health and weather data, not national averages.
- Seasonally adaptive: Matches how our bodies adjust (or don’t) to the heat.
The new thresholds were developed with the Duke University Nicholas Institute Heat Policy Innovation Hub.
Experts studied 15 years of state emergency room visits, deaths and weather patterns to pinpoint when heat starts to cause harm in each region.
Read more about this study: Modernizing Heat Alerts in North Carolina (Duke.edu)
More information:
Commonly Asked Questions
You filled out a registration form to receive heat health alerts from the NCDHHS Climate and Health Program. If you no longer want to get alerts, you can opt out.
Thank you for signing up! If you haven't gotten an alert yet, the threshold for triggering alerts may not have been reached for your selected county or counties.
Still not getting alerts?
- Please check your spam folder.
- Try completing another registration form to receive heat health alerts. Make sure you enter the correct email address.
If you no longer wish to get heat health alerts, please email heatalerts@dhhs.nc.gov with subject line "OPT OUT."
Be sure to email from the same address you used to register. It may take up to two weeks to process your request.
It may take up to two weeks to process your request. If it's been two weeks, please be sure you followed opt-out instructions.
You'll need to complete another registration form to receive heat health alerts for your preferred county or counties.
It may take up to two weeks for us to process the change.
The registration form asks if you are willing to complete surveys or interviews about your use of heat health alerts, and you replied "yes." Participation is voluntary.
Stay safe this summer — sign up for free heat alerts for your county and get warnings before dangerous heat strikes.
This page was last modified on 10/02/2026