Heat in Illinois, July 4, 2001

Name: Heat in Illinois, July 4, 2001
Start: 2001-07-04T20:00
End: 2001-07-04T20:00
Location: Illinois

July 4, 2001 · NWS LOT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 41 year old man died of heat stroke in his Chicago home. The high temperature on July 4th was 88 with dewpoints in the middle 50s.

The toll

Deaths: 1
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.

A 41 year old man died of heat stroke in his Chicago home. The high temperature on July 4th was 88 with dewpoints in the middle 50s.

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 4, 1:40 PM CST, 6 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 1:40 PM CST, 6 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
240 PM CDT WED JUL 4 2001

SYNOPSIS...COOLER DRIER AIR IS IN STORE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE
WARMTH AND HUMIDITY ATTEMPT TO RETURN TOWARD THE WEEKEND. A SERIES OF
DISTURBANCES IS EXPECTED TO CLIP NORTHERN ILLINOIS DURING EARLY NEXT
WEEK.

DISCUSSION...MORE STABLE AIR ON NW WINDS NOW WORKING THROUGH NE
ILLINOIS INTO NW INDIANA.  LK BREEZE-TROUGH INDUCED CLOUDS PERSIST
OVER NW INDIANA NOW BUT WILL EVAPORATE TOWARD SUNSET. MODELS GENERALLY
CONSISTENT IN BRINGING ANTICYCLONE ACROSS LK MICH LATE THURSDAY AND
THURSDAY NIGHT WITH LOW HUMIDITY AND CLR SKIES. WITH DEW PTS DROPPING
OFF TEMPS WILL WANDER INTO THE 50S BOTH NIGHTS ACROSS FCST AREA WHILE
MOS NUMBER FOR HIGH THURS LOOK REASONABLE.

UPPER ANTICYCLONE OVER THE WESTERN STATES SEEMS DESTINED TO NUDGE
EASTWARD THEN RETREAT WEST AGAIN TO DIABATIC HEAT SOURCE DURING THE
NEXT 4-7 DAYS. THE 'RING OF FIRE' AROUND THIS SYSTEM SEEMS LIKELY TO
OSCILLATE ACROSS WESTERN LAKES STARTING FRIDAY NIGHT AS WARM ADVECTION
SETS IN ON INCR SW WINDS. MAIN PUSH OF PRECIP FRI NIGHT AND SAT SHOULD
BE WELL N IN WISC WITH TRAILING COOL FRONT AGAIN SLDING SWD INTO
NORHTERN ILLINOIS ON SAT FOR AFTER THOUGHT THREAT OF TSTMS. AVN/MFR
MODELS SUGGEST A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES WILL MIGRATE SE DURING WEEKEND
AND FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK TO GIVE PERIODIC THREAT OF TSTMS. CAN'T
PIN DOWN DETAILS NOW BUT PROXIMITY OF BA"ROCLINICITY POINTS TOWARD
BROAD BRUSH CHANCY THREAT AT LEAST INTO TUE.

DR MOS SEEMS TO HAVE A HANDLE ON THINGS NEXT 48HRS. GOOD NIGHT FOR
FIREWORKS AS WINDS DIE OFF AT SUNSET. HAPPY 4TH.

.CHI...NONE

KML

Event by event

1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Cook

When: July 4, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Cook forecast zone
Deaths: 1 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	2001-07-04	41	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, 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: 5258228.