Heat in Illinois, August 6 to 9, 2001

Name: Heat in Illinois, August 6 to 9, 2001
Start: 2001-08-06T08:00
End: 2001-08-09T20:00
Location: Illinois

August 6 to 9, 2001 · NWS LOT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The high temperature climbed to 92 degrees at Ohare Airport on August 6th with a maximum heat index of 93 degrees. Heat indices arond the Chicago metro area were in the middle 90s.

The toll

Deaths: 14
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.

The high temperature climbed to 92 degrees at Ohare Airport on August 6th with a maximum heat index of 93 degrees. Heat indices arond the Chicago metro area were in the middle 90s. On August 7th, the high temperature was 95 at Ohare Airport with a heat index of 105 degrees, maximum heat indices around the metro area were in the 105 to 108 range. On August 8th, the high temperature was 93 at Ohare airport with a heat index of 98 degrees, maximum heat indices around the metro area were in the 100 to 102 range. On August 9th, the high temperature was at Ohare was 95 degrees with a heat index of 100 degrees, maximum heat indices were in the 100 to 104 range.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 6, 1:30 AM CST, 6 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 6, 1:30 AM CST, 6 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
230 AM CDT MON AUG 6 2001

MAIN ISSUE THIS MORNING IS HEAT HEADLINES, IN ASSOCIATION WITH
HIGHER TEMPS AND DEWPOINTS NEXT COUPLE DAYS.

SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE HAS SHIFTED TO SOUTHERN LOWER MI/NORTHERN
OH-IN THIS MORNING WITH A RIDGE AXIS WEST ACROSS OUR SOUTHERN
COUNTIES.  70+ DEWPOINTS HAVE CREPT INTO OUR WESTERN COUNTIES THOUGH
MID 60S PREVAILS MOST PLACES.  WEAK FRONT OR TROUGH LAYS ACROSS
NORTHWEST MN TO WESTERN NEBRASKA.

MODELS ALL TURN 850 FLOW MORE WESTERLY (DOWNSLOPE) WITH INCREASING
SOUTHWEST SURFACE WINDS.  850 TEMPS FORECAST TO WARM 2-3 DEGREES AND
LOWER TO MID 90S LOOKS REASONABLE FOR TODAY.  IN CHICAGO...WARMEST
TEMPS MAY WELL BE DOWNTOWN. THAT SURFACE BOUNDARY IS PUSHED INTO
PERHAPS OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES BY 12Z TUESDAY BUT REMAINS THERE AND
THEN WASHES OUT BY WEDNESDAY AS UPPER RIDGE BUILDS EASTWARD AND
SOUTHERLY SURFACE FLOW RETURNS. WITH 70 DEWPOINTS FORECAST TO
DEVELOP TODAY AHEAD OF APPROACHING TROUGH AND REMAIN NEXT TWO DAYS,
STAGE IS SET FOR ANOTHER METRO HEAT EVENT AND WATCH WILL BE ISSUED
AT 4 AM. ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE MORE CLOUDS AROUND TUESDAY, AND
PERHAPS WEDNESDAY VS. TODAY, DONT SEE MORE THAN A COUPLE DEGREES
COOLING AND MODEL SURFACE TEMPS/MOS SEEM ON TRACK VS 850 COOLING
SHOWING IN AVN BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. EVENT HIGHLY LIKELY TO MEET
EITHER 2 DAY OR 3 DAY CRITERIA BY WEDNESDAY.

WILL MAINTAIN NO PRECIP FORECAST WITH THE ARRIVAL OF WEAK BOUNDARY
TONIGHT.  HOWEVER IT IS INTERESTING NOTE HIGH CAPES (LOW LIS) AND
MINIMUM CAP OVER SOUTHERN WI/FAR NORTHERN IL TUESDAY P.M.  WEAK
BOUNDARY ITSELF PROBABLY WOULDNT TRIGGER ANY PRECIP IN OUR AREA,
BUT WEAKER FLOW SHOULD ALLOW A LAKE BREEZE AND ENHANCED CONVERGENCE
ALONG LAKE BREEZE OR ESPECIALLY AT INTERSECTION WITH THE SYNOPTIC
BOUNDARY COULD TRIGGER SOMETHING.  WILL HAVE TO MONITOR THAT
SITUATION IN SHORTER TERM, BUT FOR NOW CONSIDER IT A BIT SPECULATIVE
TO ADD. BESIDES, THESE EVENTS OFTEN AFFECT RELATIVELY SMALL AREAS.

LATEST AVAILABLE SETS OF MEDIUM RANGE GUIDANCE SUPPORT CURRENT ZFP
TRENDS THURSDAY AND BEYOND.

.CHI...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH 8 COUNTY CHICAGO METRO AREA

KAPLAN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 6, 4:59 AM CST, 3 hours 1 minute before

ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019-
061700-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
600 AM CDT/EST MON AUG 6 2001

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA...

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FOR THE
CHICAGO METRO AREA. AS HIGH PRESSURE WHICH HAS BROUGHT A MODERATION OF
THE HEAT AND HUMIDITY FOR THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS CONTINUES TO MOVE OFF
TO THE EAST...TEMPERATURES AND DEW POINTS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE
TODAY AND TUESDAY.  THE HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE
WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL WILL PRODUCE HEAT INDICES AT OR ABOVE 105 BY
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.  ACTUAL HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE RANGE
OF 90 TO 95 DEGREES.

NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

KAPLAN

Event by event

1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Cook

When: August 6, 8:00 AM CST to August 9, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Cook forecast zone
Deaths: 14 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL

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	2001-08-07	77	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-08	78	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-08	72	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-08	84	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-08	45	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-09	70	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-09	53	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-09	87	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-10	72	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-10	74	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-11	49	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-08	56	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Heat, Cook	2001-08-10	75	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

Every storm in Illinois in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, August 2001

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: 5262730.