The five topics
- Forecasts, alerts & local conditions. Weather watch, warning or advisory: what each alert means for your health
Know what a weather watch, warning or advisory means for your health. - Air quality, smoke & pollen. null (Guide in preparation)
Understand Air Quality Index numbers and what to do at each level. - Heat, cold & outdoor planning. Medicines that can raise your risk in a heat wave, and what to ask your doctor
Learn which medicines can raise your risk in a heat wave, and what to ask your clinician. - Disasters, outages & household readiness. null (Guide in preparation)
Plan for a power outage when someone at home depends on medical equipment. - Climate, water & community decisions. null (Guide in preparation)
Test a private well for nitrate and find help in California.
In the Central Valley and across California, weather is a health matter: heat waves, wildfire smoke, power shutoffs, floods and water quality. These guides translate official alerts and environmental data into what a household can do. They pay particular attention to people at higher risk: those taking medicines that affect heat tolerance, people who depend on powered medical equipment, young children, older adults and outdoor workers. They do not show live readings. For current conditions, they point to the official source.
Get help now
Call 911 for possible heat stroke: a body temperature above 103°F, hot red skin (dry or damp), confusion, slurred speech, fainting or a seizure. While you wait, move the person somewhere cooler and cool them with cool, wet cloths or a cool bath. Do not give them anything to drink.
What this area covers
Forecasts, alerts & local conditions. Weather watch, warning or advisory: what each alert means for your health, and what to do at each level.
Air quality, smoke & pollen. What Air Quality Index numbers mean and when to change your plans.
Heat, cold & outdoor planning. Medicines that can raise your risk in a heat wave, and what to ask your doctor or pharmacist before summer.
Disasters, outages & household readiness. How to plan for a power outage when someone at home relies on medical equipment.
Climate, water & community decisions. How to test a private well for nitrate, what the results mean for health, and where to find help in California.
Start here
- Weather watch, warning or advisory: what each alert means for your health
- Medicines that can raise your risk in a heat wave, and what to ask your doctor, with heat-wave medicine questions for your clinician or pharmacist
- Medical Baseline: lower utility rates if someone at home relies on medical equipment (California)
From the patient education library
- Heat-Related Illness: Protecting Yourself in the Central Valley
- Air Quality and Respiratory Health in Fresno and the Central Valley
- Managing Multiple Medications Safely
Where this connects
Heat, smoke, outages and water quality are where environmental policy becomes personal health. The policy library's work on drinking water governance and health covers who is responsible for safe water and how communities can press for it.
Current developments
Dated items, each with its source. Checked October 25, 2026.
Framework published
Tracking extreme heat's effects on pregnancy, newborns and children
On October 21, 2026, WHO, the World Meteorological Organization, UNICEF and UNFPA launched priority indicators for tracking how extreme heat affects pregnant women, newborns and children. The indicators include early births and stillbirths, low birth weight, high blood pressure in pregnancy, child deaths and visits to health facilities. This is a monitoring framework for health systems, not advice for individuals.
Related guide: Medicines that can raise your risk in a heat wave, and what to ask your doctor