Baldwin County officials are opening a cooling center in Foley this week as a dangerous and prolonged stretch of heat settles over south Alabama, giving residents without reliable air conditioning a place to escape triple-digit heat indexes. The announcement puts one of the county’s largest municipalities at the center of the regional response to a heat event that forecasters say will test residents for days. Cooling centers have become a standard tool for Gulf Coast communities during extreme heat, when the combination of temperature and humidity turns ordinary summer into a genuine health hazard.
Where and when to go
The Baldwin County Commission announced that the center will operate Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall, located at 506 North Pine Street in Foley. The hours cover the most dangerous portion of each day, including the late-afternoon stretch when heat indexes reach their peak and the evening hours when homes that cooled poorly overnight remain uncomfortable. The parish hall’s location in central Foley places it within reach of residents across the county’s southern end, where the population has grown rapidly in recent years.
Water and light snacks will be provided during cooling center hours, and pets are welcome as long as owners keep them under control. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own personal comfort items, though the center will not offer overnight accommodations. The allowance for pets matters more than it might appear, since residents facing extreme heat often refuse to leave home without their animals, and pets left in uncooled homes face the same risks as their owners. Officials recommend bringing medications, reading material, and any items that make an extended stay comfortable.
The church’s regular community meal will also be served Monday from 5 to 8 p.m. for anyone in need, giving residents an additional resource beyond the cooling center’s hours. The meal, which the church hosts on its regular schedule, will run during the cooling center’s operating window, allowing visitors to combine the two.
A dangerous forecast
The move comes as the National Weather Service office serving Mobile and Pensacola has been tracking dangerous conditions expected to persist through the middle of the week. A heat advisory is currently in effect for the area, with heat indexes forecast between 108 and 112 degrees, and that advisory is expected to continue into the following day. An excessive heat watch has also been issued for coastal areas of Baldwin County, where the combination of high temperatures and humidity could push heat indexes as high as 110 to 115 degrees.
The distinction between the two alert levels matters for residents deciding how seriously to take the forecast. A heat advisory signals conditions that are hazardous to vulnerable populations, while an excessive heat watch warns that conditions may reach a level dangerous to anyone without adequate cooling. The two-level warning structure is part of the National Weather Service’s escalating system for extreme heat, and forecasters use it to give communities lead time to open facilities and prepare before the worst conditions arrive.
Who is most at risk
Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency officials say the conditions significantly raise the risk of heat-related illness, particularly for older adults, young children and people with chronic health conditions. The agency is urging residents to take advantage of the cooling center, drink plenty of water, avoid extended time outdoors and check in on neighbors who may be especially vulnerable to the heat. Emergency managers emphasize that heat deaths are among the most preventable of weather fatalities, since the danger is visible in the forecast days in advance and the remedy — a cool indoor space and hydration — is simple.
The risk extends beyond people without air conditioning. Outdoor workers, athletes practicing in the afternoons, and residents doing yard work during peak hours account for a significant share of heat-related emergencies during extreme events, and officials urge those groups to shift activity to the early morning hours, take frequent breaks in shade or air conditioning, and hydrate before thirst sets in. Certain medications also increase susceptibility to heat illness, which is why officials recommend that residents with chronic conditions consult their physicians about summer precautions.
Understanding the alerts
Heat advisories and excessive heat watches are issued when a combination of high temperature and humidity is expected to create conditions that pose a health risk, particularly during outdoor activity or in homes without adequate cooling. The heat index exists because humidity changes everything: sweat evaporates more slowly in moist air, and the body’s primary cooling mechanism becomes less effective as moisture builds in the atmosphere. Along the Gulf Coast, where dew points in the seventies are routine in summer, air temperatures that would be merely uncomfortable in a dry climate become dangerous when combined with the region’s humidity.
Health officials generally recommend limiting outdoor exertion during peak afternoon hours and recognizing early symptoms of heat exhaustion, such as heavy sweating, dizziness and nausea. The progression from heat exhaustion to heat stroke — marked by confusion, hot dry skin, and loss of sweating — is a medical emergency requiring immediate intervention, and officials urge anyone observing those signs to call 911 rather than waiting to see whether the symptoms pass.
Growing county, growing heat risk
Baldwin County’s rapid growth adds urgency to the county’s heat planning. The county has ranked among the fastest-growing in Alabama for years, with its population swelling as retirees and young families move to communities like Foley, Fairhope, Gulf Shores, and Daphne. Growth brings more construction work, more outdoor recreation, and more residents unaccustomed to the intensity of Gulf Coast summer, all of which expand the population that emergency managers must reach during dangerous heat events. Older retirees, a large share of new arrivals to the area, fall squarely within the highest-risk groups during extreme heat.
Foley, situated in the southern end of the county near the resort communities of the Gulf Coast, has grown from a small farming town into a commercial hub anchored by its outlet shopping district and proximity to the beaches. Its central location and public facilities make it a natural staging point for county services aimed at the southern end of the county, and the parish hall’s position on North Pine Street places it within a short drive of neighborhoods across the city.
The partnership behind the center
The arrangement between the Baldwin County Commission and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church reflects the way Gulf Coast communities staff their emergency responses during heat events. Governments provide coordination and public communication, while houses of worship contribute the physical space that most municipalities lack — large, open, air-conditioned halls available on short notice. Churches across south Alabama have served this function during hurricanes and heat waves alike, and the relationships between county emergency managers and congregations are built well before the events that call on them.
County officials use the same playbook for other weather emergencies, and residents who familiarize themselves with the cooling center’s location this week will know where to look when the next storm or freeze opens a similar facility. Emergency managers encourage residents, particularly those new to the region, to save the county’s emergency information resources before the next event rather than searching for them in the moment.
Getting more information
Residents seeking more information about the Foley cooling center can call 251-256-8202. The church office is not handling inquiries related to the cooling center, so callers should direct their questions to the county number rather than the parish. Officials encourage anyone who knows a neighbor living without air conditioning, or an older resident living alone, to share the information directly — the county’s experience with past heat events shows that the residents most at risk are often the least likely to hear about the resources available to them.
Staying safe during extreme heat
Beyond the cooling center itself, emergency officials outline a straightforward playbook for residents during the heat event’s worst days. Homes can be kept cooler by closing blinds and curtains during daylight hours, running ceiling fans to move air across skin, and avoiding the use of ovens and stoves that add heat to living spaces. Residents with functioning air conditioning are advised to set thermostats to a sustainable level and keep filters clean, since units working against extreme temperatures run harder and fail more often, sometimes at the worst possible moment.
Vehicle safety takes on added urgency during triple-digit heat indexes. Officials remind drivers to never leave children, older adults, or pets in parked vehicles, where interior temperatures can climb to lethal levels within minutes even with windows cracked. Baldwin County’s stretches of summer heat bring a predictable rise in such emergencies each year, and public safety agencies repeat the warning with each heat event because the stakes leave no margin for error.
Hydration guidance runs counter to what many residents assume. Officials recommend drinking water steadily throughout the day rather than waiting for thirst, and limiting alcohol and caffeinated beverages that contribute to dehydration. Athletes and outdoor workers are advised to replace electrolytes along with fluids during extended exertion, since heavy sweating depletes salts that plain water alone does not restore.
Checking on vulnerable neighbors
The county’s most repeated instruction during heat events is also its simplest: check on your neighbors. Emergency managers note that the residents most likely to suffer fatal heat illness — older adults living alone, people with disabilities, residents who keep thermostats high to save on power bills — are the least likely to ask for help, and that a door knock or phone call from a neighbor is often the intervention that prevents a tragedy. Officials suggest asking directly whether the home is staying cool, whether the resident has water, and whether they have transportation to the cooling center if they need it.
Family members of vulnerable residents who live elsewhere can play the same role by phone, and health officials encourage them to arrange a daily check-in during dangerous heat stretches. For residents who lack transportation to the Foley site, family, neighbors, and church networks are typically the practical solution, and county officials recommend making those arrangements in advance rather than waiting for the heat’s worst hours.
The current event is expected to moderate once the middle of the week passes, but Gulf Coast summers hold weeks of heat potential beyond it, and officials said the cooling center model will return whenever conditions warrant. For now, the message to Baldwin County residents is practical and immediate: the doors in Foley are open, the water is cold, and no one should try to ride out a heat index of 110 degrees alone at home.