Heat in Illinois, August 3 to 4, 2002

Name: Heat in Illinois, August 3 to 4, 2002
Start: 2002-08-03T08:00
End: 2002-08-04T20:00
Location: Illinois

August 3 to 4, 2002 · NWS LOT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

High temperatures on August 3rd and 4th were near 90 with low temperatures in the lower to middle 70s on the morning of August 4th. One person died from this short hot spell.

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.

High temperatures on August 3rd and 4th were near 90 with low temperatures in the lower to middle 70s on the morning of August 4th. One person died from this short hot spell.

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 Aug 3, 2:13 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 2:13 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
240 PM CDT FRI AUG 2 2002

500 MB HEIGHT FALLS IN COLORADO AND A LARGE PORTION OF THE
NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAINS STATES AT 00 UTC. THIS IS THE NEXT
SHORT WAVE THAT WILL MOVE THROUGH WITH SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. THE 500 MB RIDGE WILL REMAIN
IN PLACE OVER THE OHIO VALLEY WHILE THE WAVE MOVES EASTWARD
NORTH OF THE RIDGE CENTER IN ILLINOIS MISSOURI AND INDIANA.

THE 6 HOUR PRECIPITATION IS HIGHEST MONDAY MORNING ON THE ETA
FORECASTS. WILL KEEP THE RAIN FOR SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY
MORNING. PROFILER WINDS SHOW WEST WINDS OVER ILLINOIS AND
IOWA. THAT WILL BRING THE WARMER AIR INTO THE FORECAST AREA
AND SO WILL KEEP ONGOING 90S FOR HIGHS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.
CLOUDS WILL BE FEW TODAY AS ACARS SHOWS A RATHER STABLE
SOUNDING THIS MORNING. BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON THE FORECAST
SOUNDINGS SHOW INCREASE INSTABILITY AND THE POSITIVE ENERGY
OF 3400  JOULE PER KILOGRAM.

.CHI...NONE
WHW

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 3, 5:01 AM CST, 2 hours 59 minutes before

ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019-
031700-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
600 AM CDT SAT 3 2002

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA

NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT.

THE NEXT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY
AS A WARM FRONT ACROSS CENTRAL ILLINOIS WILL MOVE BACK NORTH. THE
FRONT WILL BE EAST OF AN APPROACHING LOW THAT WAS OVER EASTERN
MONTANA THIS MORNING. AS THE LOW MOVES INTO WISCONSIN SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE WARM FRONT.

Event by event

1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Cook

When: August 3, 8:00 AM CST to August 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	2002-08-04	53	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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, August 2002

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: 5311190.