Wisconsin, 2001

Heat in Wisconsin, August 1, 2001

August 1, 2001 · NWS MPX · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Excessive heat began on July 31 (see July Storm Data) and ended the morning of August 1 when showers and thunderstorms swept through the area, bringing lower temperatures and dewpoints. Until the storms arrived, however, dewpoints remained in the middle 70s overnight on July 31 into August 1, resulting in nighttime heat index values that never dropped below 80 in many locales.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
9

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 MPX wrote it up.

Excessive heat began on July 31 (see July Storm Data) and ended the morning of August 1 when showers and thunderstorms swept through the area, bringing lower temperatures and dewpoints. Until the storms arrived, however, dewpoints remained in the middle 70s overnight on July 31 into August 1, resulting in nighttime heat index values that never dropped below 80 in many locales. Since maximum temperatures on the 1st only reached the 80s, and dewpoints dropped into the lower 70s during the afternoon, heat index values were only in the 80s on the afternoon and evening of August 1.

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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 7:55 PM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 7:55 PM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
855 PM CDT TUE JUL 31 2001

CONVECTION CURRENTLY NORTH AND WEST OF MPX CWA WITH FEEDER BANDS OF
CU EVIDENT IN NORTHERN CWA COUNTIES DIRECTED INTO MCS OVER NORTHERN
MINNESOTA.  ETA ANDRUC SHOW THESE BANDS ARE CURRENLY CAPPED JUDING
FORM CIN VALUES SO WESTERN FRONT WILL HAVE TO MOVE IN LATER TONIGHT
TO TRIGGER THE ANTICIPATED LATE NIGHT CONVECTION.

EXTENDED...UPPER RIDGE BUILDS THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK INTO
EARLY NEXT WEEK. HUMIDITY SHOULD RETURN AS WELL WITH TEMPERATURES IN
THE 90S AGAIN.

.MSP...HEAT ADVY THIS EVE ALL OF CWA.
 WET

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Barron

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
Barron forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.424, -91.848 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Chippewa

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
Chippewa forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.069, -91.280 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Dunn

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
Dunn forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.947, -91.896 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Eau Claire

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
Eau Claire forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.727, -91.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Pepin

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
Pepin forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.483, -92.150 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Pierce

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
Pierce forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.720, -92.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Polk

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
Polk forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.461, -92.441 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Rusk

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
Rusk forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.475, -91.133 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, St. Croix

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where
St. Croix forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.034, -92.453 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, 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: 5267184, 5267185, 5267186, 5267187, 5267188, 5267189, 5267190, 5267191, 5267192.