Heat in Illinois, June 17, 2001

Name: Heat in Illinois, June 17, 2001
Start: 2001-06-17T20:00
End: 2001-06-17T20:00
Location: Illinois

June 17, 2001 · NWS LOT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 79 year old man died from heat stress in his home in Chicago. The high temperature on June 16th was 86 and the high temperature on the 17th was 87 degrees.

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 79 year old man died from heat stress in his home in Chicago. The high temperature on June 16th was 86 and the high temperature on the 17th was 87 degrees. Depoints both days were in the middle to upper 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 Jun 17, 1:49 PM CST, 6 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 1:49 PM CST, 6 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
249 PM CDT SUN JUN 17 2001

SYNOPSIS...THE REMAINS OF A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER THE CENTRAL
PLAINS MAY AFFECT NORTHERN ILLINOIS LATER TONIGHT. A MORE ORGANIZED
COOL FRONT IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE ON TUESDAY WITH ANOTHER CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS. COOLER AIR SHOULD BE OVER THE REGION DURING THE LATTER
HALF OF THE WEEK.

DISCUSSION...PSEUDO ZONAL FLOW ACROSS 40N WITH EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES
WILL KICK OFF A THUNDERSTORM ZONE OVER WRN IOWA AND ERN NEB THIS
EVENING.  MODELS A BIT AT ODDS AS TO THE FUTURE OF THIS SYSTEM BUT
BEST GUESS IS THAT IT WILL SLIDE GENERALLY EASTWARD ALONG 850-300MB
THINCKESS CHANNEL WITH A LITTLE SEWD DRIFT. DEVELOPING LOW LEVEL JET
FEEDING THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT WILL SHIFT EASTWARD AND BECOME MORE SW
LATER TONIGHT. WHILE COMPLEX SHOULD WEAKEN LATER TONIGHT UNDER DIURNAL
PHASE WHATS LEFT WILL USHER IN A BRIEF STINT OF BREEZY WARM AIR FOR
MONDAY AHEAD OF MORE ORGANIZED SHORT WAVE/COOL FRONT EARLY TUE.

AMOUNT OF LEFT OVER CLOUDS AND ANY SHOWERS MON AM WILL TEMPER
TEMPERATURE RISE BUT WITH INCR SW WINDS AND SUMMER SOLSTICE HERE TEMPS
RISING TOWARD 90 SEEMS REASONABLE DURING THE AFTERNOON.  ALL MODELS
AGREE IN PLACING ZONE OF MODESTLY UNSTABLE AIR AHEAD OF FRONTAL BAND
APPROACHING NRN ILLINOIS MON NIGHT.  IGNORING ANY LEFT OVER BOUNDARIES
THE PROGGED AMPLIFICATION OF APPROACHING TROUGH MON NIGHT AND TUE
SUGGESTS A BETTER THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS DURING THIS TRANSITION
ALTHOUGH BEST THERMAL SUPPORT WOULD APPEAR TO BE SHIFTING OFF TO THE
NE OF AREA TUE MORNING.

AT THIS POINT AM RELUCTANT TO BOOST POPS FOR MON NIGHT TUE GIVEN THE
UNCERTAINTIES. HOWEVER DEEPENING OF THIS TROUGH TUESDAY-WED SHOULD
USHER IN A PERIOD OF COOLER TEMPS DURING END OF WEEK.  MRF SUGGESTS
ANOTHER CUTOFF LOW DEVELOPING NEAR THE OHIO VALLEY BY NEXT WEEKEND AS
SOUTHERN EXTREMITIES OF WESTERLIES REVERT TO HIGH AMPLITUDE AGAIN.

GUIDANCE NUMBERS ALL OVER THE MAP ESPECIALLY AFTER MON NIGHT WITH NGM
MOS AIMING FOR AROUND 90 TUE WHILE THE REST OF THE GANG SETTLES FOR
UPPER 70S.  IN SHORT TERM WILL TEND TOWARD WARMER MOS BUT WILL BE MORE
IN LINE WITH THE CONSENSUS TUE.  TEM{PS FORECAST WED-SUN BY
MRF/AVN..WHILE WELCOMELY COOL..ARE LIKELY TOO COOL GIVEN TIME OF YEAR
AND EXPECTED SUNSHINE. AM ALSO A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT POPS IN MOS
FOR MON NIGHT-TUE...BEING TOO LOW.  KML

.CHI...NONE

Event by event

1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Cook

When: June 17, 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	2001-06-17	79	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, June 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: 5255888.