Heat, Harris
- When
- August 5, 2:40 PM CST
- Where
- Harris forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
- Coordinates
- 29.857, -95.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Female died of heat exposure in her home.
Heat in Texas, August 5, 2001
1 heat, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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 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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 5, 1:30 PM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 1:30 PM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 230 PM CDT SUN AUG 5 2001 BARRY STILL SPINNING OVER THE EASTERN GULF BUT NOT A CONCERN FOR SE TX. FOR TONIGHT...WEAK BOUNDARY AND HIGHER MOISTURE OVER EASTERN ZONES COUPLED WITH STRONG HEATING THROGH EARLY EVENING MAY TRIGGER A FEW TSRA BUT CONFIDENCE IS RATHER LOW. KLCH-88D IS SHOWING SOME RETURNS AND THESE SHRA ARE MOVING SW TOWARD HGX. WILL MENTION ISOLATED EVENING CONVECTION AS A CONTINGENCY. OVERALL THE PATTERN DOES NOT CHANGE MUCH OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. DESPITE THE MODELS PREFERENCE OF LOWERING HEIGHTS AT 50H...IT APPEARS THAT ONLY A 10-20 METER DROP CAN BE EXPECTED (592 TO 590). 85H TEMPS WILL LOWER ABOUT 4 C BY TUESDAY AND GRADUALLY INCREASE ANOTHER 2 C BY FRIDAY. PW'S PROGGED TO INCREASE TO AROUND 2 INCHES TUES/WED AND THEN LOWER TO AROUND 1.6 NORTH...1.7 CENTRAL AND 1.8 INCHES COAST BY FRIDAY. ETA SHOWS DECENT LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE OVER THE REGION ON TUESDAY AND WILL PLACE HIGHEST POPS FOR THAT PERIOD. OTHER THAN DAYTIME HEATING AND ABUNDANT MOISTURE THERE REALLY AREN'T ANY SIGNIFICANT UPPER OR LOWER LEVEL TRIGGERS FOR CONVECTION. STILL FEEL THAT DAYTIME HEATING WILL BE ENOUGH OF A TRIGGER FOR SCT SHRA/TSRA. MOS POPS LOOK REASONABLE. NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. 50H BUILD AGAIN ON FRI AND SAT. PW'S ARE PROGGED TO FALL SO THINK RAIN CHANCES WILL BE ON THE DECLINE. WILL CARRY SLT CHC FOR FRI-SAT AND NO POPS FOR SUNDAY. TEMPS SHOULD WARM UP AGAIN. .KHGX...NONE. 43/38/48 PRELIMS... CLL BE 075/098 074/095 074 021 IAH BT 074/095 075/093 075 -32 GLS BT 080/090 080/08b9 081 042
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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, Harris | 2001-08-05 | 65 | Female | 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
- Heat in Iowa, August 5, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 5, 2001
- Rip Current in Florida, August 5, 2001
- Tropical Storm in Alabama, August 5 to 6, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 5, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 5, 2001
- Damaging Winds in North Dakota, August 5, 2001
- Flash Flood and Hail in Colorado, August 5, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 5, 2001
- Heat in North Dakota, August 5, 2001
- Flood and Damaging Wind in Georgia, August 5, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, August 5, 2001
More
Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, 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: 5263584.