The impact of urban heat islands 

Per usual, July heat has been gripping much of the continental United States in recent weeks. While entire regions of the country are dealing with the summer sizzle, cities tend to feel it a bit more, due to the urban heat island effect.

When temperatures soar, urban population centers are almost always warmer than surrounding suburbs and countryside. In the past decade, this phenomenon has been observed in cities across the globe thanks to the abundance of concrete infrastructure which absorbs, retains and radiates large quantities of heat. 

A 2023 peer-reviewed study by Climate Central ranked 44 U.S. cities with the highest number of people affected by a temperature difference of eight degrees or more. Kansas City ranked 15th on the list. A temperature increase of less than 10 degrees may sound insignificant, but when high-intensity triple-digit heat is the baseline, every degree counts in terms of impact on human health and risk of heat-related illness.

In recent years, the utility company Evergy started the 'Urban Heat Island Reduction' initiative, to help ease the impact of urban infrastructure on summer-time temperatures in the Kansas City area. In 2025, Evergy successfully planted 1,700 trees as part of their effort to add shade and more green space to parts of the city. Evergy also started the 'Cool Roofs Program', which involves adding a reflective coating to qualifying structures in Kansas City, MO. 

Another impact of urban heat islands can also be increased cloud development, if conditions are right. When air parcels at the surface are a few degrees warmer within a cityscape, they are able to rise and crease clouds faster. This phenomenon was observed on visible satellite imagery in June of 2026 in Houston, TX. According to NOAA, narrow bands of clouds were seen stretching across the sky that lined up with many of the city’s major roads and highways, unofficially coined, 'interstate clouds'. 

While the city of St. Joseph has not been the subject of a study related to the urban heat island effect; there is enough concrete and blacktop to keep those within the city limits a few degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside on those hot summer days.