The response of a heated, nearly homogeneous and isotropic turbulent field to a nonuniform rapid distortion upstream of two‐dimensional objects placed in a homogeneous grid generated flow is investigated experimentally. In particular, the effect of the nonuniform distortion on the single‐point statistical properties of the velocity and a passive scalar (temperature), the axial heat flux and higher‐order cross moments are presented. The nearly homogeneous, turbulent flow is produced by a biplane grid of rods and a square mesh grid of electrically heated wire that is placed downstream of the turbulence producing grid. Spatially and temporally resolved, simultaneous measurements of the streamwise turbulent velocity and temperature are obtained upstream of several two‐dimensional objects along the mean stagnation streamline. The effects of the blocking and vortex stretching mechanisms on the root‐mean‐square (RMS) velocity for various ratios of the integral length scale to the characteristic length of the object,L0/D, are in agreement with previous results, i.e., forL0/D≪1, the velocity intensity is increased and for,L0/D≫1, it is decreased. In contrast, to within a distance equal to about one integral scale from the object, the distorted RMS temperature remains nearly a constant. WhenL0/D≪1, where vortex stretching is important, the axial heat flux and the diffusion of temperature variance increase as the object is approached. In contrast, whenL0/D≫1, where the blockage effect is dominant, they decrease as the object is approached. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.