Albuquerque opens cooling centers as triple-digit heat arrives

Triple-digit heat is pushing Albuquerque into full heat-response mode, and city leaders are widening access to 22 cooling sites, including community centers, pools, splash pads, shelters and other air-conditioned public buildings. The push is aimed first at people most likely to suffer in dangerous heat: seniors, families without reliable air conditioning, outdoor workers and people experiencing homelessness.

Operation Cool Down 2026 relies on a mix of city facilities and partner sites. City materials say residents can seek relief at libraries, senior centers and multigenerational centers, along with pools, splash pads and park sprinklers. Named indoor locations include the Main Library, International District Library, Unser Library and Erna Ferguson Library, while Gateway Network shelter sites remain part of the city’s emergency shelter response. The city’s summer heat resources also point people to day-shelter partners that distribute water bottles, sunscreen and cooling towels, including God’s Warehouse, Good Shepherd, The Rock, First Nations/Zuni Clinic, Compassion Services Center and HopeWorks.

For people who cannot get around on their own, the Community Support Shuttle offers free transportation to some cooling and service locations. The city also directs residents to ABQALERT, its emergency alert and community notification system, and to the Beat the Heat flyer, which links to a cooling-centers map and heat-illness information.

The scale of the problem is bigger than a single hot stretch. City guidance says vulnerable neighborhoods can run more than 15 degrees hotter during the day because of asphalt and limited tree cover, and it says heat-related illness sends more than 60,000 people to emergency rooms in the metro area each year. In Bernalillo County, that puts the First Street corridor, the South Valley and the Northeast Heights in a heat pattern that can turn dangerous fast when the sun peaks.

Mayor Tim Keller has framed the effort as a public safety response, not just a comfort measure, and the city’s broader heat plan now reaches beyond cooling centers. Last year’s extreme-heat response included 24/7 Gateway shelter services, emergency transportation through Albuquerque Community Safety and supply distribution for people who need water, sunscreen and cooling gear. The city also added a rental ordinance requiring working cooling systems, sponsored by Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, as part of a wider effort to keep residents safe inside their homes as well as outside them.

Health officials and advocates have pushed for the city to keep expanding the effort. Janus Herrera of the Bernalillo County Health Equity Council said more splash pads, sprinklers, water, cooling towels and snacks should be added, and Matthew Whelan said the city can scale resources up or down depending on how hot the summer becomes.