Heat, Cook
- When
- May 18, 12:00 PM CST to May 19, 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cook forecast zone
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
Heat in Illinois, May 18 to 19, 1996
Chicago had its first heat wave of the season on the 18th and 19th of May with high temperatures around 90 and high humidity. There were 2 heat-related deaths.
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.
Chicago had its first heat wave of the season on the 18th and 19th of May with high temperatures around 90 and high humidity. There were 2 heat-related deaths. Both were elderly people in a nursing home.
Event by event
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, Cook | 1996-05-20 | 68 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 1996-05-19 | 72 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
What these are
- Heat
- Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail in Minnesota, May 18, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Heat in Virginia, May 18 to 21, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 18, 1996
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, May 18, 1996
More
Every storm in Illinois in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, May 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5545155.