Heat, Cook
- When
- July 29, 4:00 PM CST to July 31, 10:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cook forecast zone
- Deaths
- 6 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
Heat in Illinois, July 29 to 31, 2001
An excessive heat watch was issued on Monday, July 30th and an excessive heat warning was issued on Wednesday, August 1st. The high temperature at Ohare Airport was 90 on both July 29th and July 30th and 94 degrees on July 31st.
The toll
- Deaths
- 6
- 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.
An excessive heat watch was issued on Monday, July 30th and an excessive heat warning was issued on Wednesday, August 1st. The high temperature at Ohare Airport was 90 on both July 29th and July 30th and 94 degrees on July 31st. Daytime heat indices were in the middle 90s on July 30th and between 100 and 105 on July 31st. This heat wave continued into August 2001. (See StormData, August 2001, Illinois Northeast)
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 Jul 29, 1:42 PM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 1:42 PM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 242 PM CDT/EST SUN JUL 29 2001 AFTER THE FOG BURN OFF A REAL NICE SUMMER DAY. LITTLE TS NW OF DSM IN ASSOCIATION WITH VORT MAX. THIS SLIDES TO OUR SW THIS EVE. AFTER THIS GOES BY HEIGHTS BEGIN TO SLOWLY RISE WITH 594 CONTOUR OVER AREA ON TUE AND WED. THIS WILL BOOST TEMPS IN MID 90S AND A CAPPED ATMOSPHERE WITH NO LATE AFTN THUNDER TO COOL THINGS OFF. THERE WILL BE A LAKE BREEZE MON FOR SOME COOLING BUT NO LAKE BREEZE ON TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY. WILL BE ISSUEING HEAT OUTLOOK WITH AFTERNOON PACKAGE FOR HEAT POTENTIAL TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. FRONT COMING DOWN WED NIGHT FOR COOLING THURSDAY. DPS HAVE DROPPED A LITTLE TODAY WITH STRONG HEATING AND MIXING CONTRARY TO YESTERDAY WITH THE HEAVY OVERCAST. SO FOG TONIGHT SHOULD BE PATCHY. TEMP GUIDANCE CLOSE MON AND LOOKS LITTLE LOW FOR TUE WITH LITTLE WARMER 850 TEMPS. .CHI...NONE AF
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 29, 11:00 AM CST, 5 hours before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 301100- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 1200 PM CDT/EST SUN JUL 29 2001 FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHE/AST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT.
Special weather statement, Jul 29, 2:28 PM CST, 1 hour 32 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 300900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 328 PM CDT/EST SUN JUL 29 2001 LATEST COMPUTER GUIDANCE FORECASTS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE AREA TO DEVELOP OVER THE MIDWEST BEGINNING MONDAY NIGHT. THIS SHOULD PRODUCE SUNNY SKIES AND HOT TEMPERATURES IN THE MIDDLE 90S TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. COMBINED WITH HIGH HUMIDITIES...HEAT INDEX VALUES BOTH DAYS SHOULD BE 105 OR HIGHER. THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE CENTER WILL PREVENT ANY CHANCE OF COOLING LATE AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. THIS ATMOSPHERIC SETUP MAY PRODUCE EXCESSIVE HEAT VALUES BOTH DAYS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR7 ANY UPDATES MONDAY MORNING ON THIS POTENTIAL EXCESSIVE HEAT EPISODE. AF
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 | 2001-07-29 | 85 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2001-07-31 | 76 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2001-07-31 | 63 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2001-07-31 | 56 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2001-07-31 | 54 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2001-07-31 | 67 | 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
- Flash Flooding in West Virginia, July 29, 2001
- Flash Flood in Virginia, July 29, 2001
- Rip Current in Florida, July 29, 2001
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, July 29, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, July 29, 2001
- Heat and Lightning Strike in Mississippi, July 29, 2001
- Volcanic Ash in Puerto Rico, July 29, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Virginia, July 29 to 30, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, July 29, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 29, 2001
- Volcanic Ash in U.S. Virgin Islands, July 29, 2001
- Flash Flood in Missouri, July 29, 2001
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, July 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: 5258234.