Wisconsin, 2001

Heat in Wisconsin, July 20, 2001

July 20, 2001 · NWS MPX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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

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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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 20, 10:00 AM CST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 10:00 AM CST, 1 hour before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1100 AM CDT FRI JUL 20 2001

THUNDERSTORMS IN FAR WRN PORTION OF FORECAST AREA...ASSOCIATED WITH
LOW LEVEL THETA-E AXIS.  SOME OTHER ISOLATED STORMS GENERATED IN THE
GENERAL INSTABILITY.  THETA-E GRADIENT IS FORECAST TO STAY WEST
THROUGH THE DAY...ALTHOUGH MODELS HINT AT A FOCUS ACROSS TWIN CITIES
TO EAU CLAIRE AREA WITH OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM MORNING CONVECTION IN
NRN PORTIONS OF THE AREA.  HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE A LITTLE LOWER
TODAY WITH DEBRIS CLOUDINESS.

.MSP...NONE.
 SCOTT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Chippewa

When
July 20, 11:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where
Chippewa forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
45.069, -91.280 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A man died after fishing on Lake Stanley (in Stanley) during warm and humid weather. According to the cooperative observer in Stanley, the maximum temperature on the 20th was 85. The Eau Claire ASOS, 25 miles WSW of Stanley, registered a dewpoint in the low 70s, indicating the heat index was likely in the low 90s in Stanley. The man came to shore, collapsed shortly thereafter, and was brought to a hospital in Eau Claire where his body temperature was measured at 108 degrees. Death occurred on the 21st. The coroner described that the victim had been on three different prescribed medications at the time.

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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Heat, Chippewa2001-07-2146MaleBoatDirect

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, 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: 5262199.