Heat, Cook
- When
- July 1, 8:00 AM CST to July 4, 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cook forecast zone
- Deaths
- 12 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
Heat in Illinois, July 1 to 4, 2002
July 2002 began well above normal with high temperatures in the lower to middle 90s across the Chicago area with overnight low temperatures mainly in the 70s. The prolonged heat and humidity which began in late June 2002, caused several heat related fatalities in Cook county.
The toll
- Deaths
- 12
- 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.
July 2002 began well above normal with high temperatures in the lower to middle 90s across the Chicago area with overnight low temperatures mainly in the 70s. The prolonged heat and humidity which began in late June 2002, caused several heat related fatalities in Cook county.
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 Jul 1, 2:00 AM CST, 6 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 2:00 AM CST, 6 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
300 AM CDT MON JUL 1 2002
THE CANADIAN GLOBAL MODEL AND AVN MODEL KEEP THE COOLER AIR MASS
NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. THIS
WILL ALLOW ANOTHER DAY FOR HIGH TEMPERATURES AND HUMID CONDITIONS.
DEWPOINTS WILL BE IN THE 70S. THE LAST 24 HOUR TREND HAS BEEN FOR
DEWPOINTS INCREASING. WILL ISSUE AN ADVISORY FOR THIS AFTERNOON FOR
ALL THE COUNTIES AND A HEAT WARNING FOR THE CHICAGO METRO AREA.
THE WARNING WILL MEET THE CRITERIA FOR THREE DAYS...WHICH IS DUE TO
SLOWING OF THE SOUTHWARD MOVEMENT OF THE FRONT INTO THE FORECAST
AREA UNTIL WEDNESDAY.
WILL RAISE THE POPS FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING. THICKNESS AND DEWPOINT
FORECASTS FROM THE AVN SHOW THE FRONT MOVING INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS
THE UPPER AIR WAVE THAT IS SUPPORT FOR A CYCLONE THAT HAS THIS
FRONT WILL BE WELL EAST. SO THE THETA E GRADIENT DOES NOT GET
MORE THAN HALFWAY INTO THE FORECAST AREA. THEN...ON THURSDAY THROUGH
FRIDAY THE GRADIENT MOVES INTO THE FORECAST AREA. THE NORTHWEST
SOUTHEAST ORIENTATION OF THE FRONT FRIDAY AND SATURDAY SUGGEST COOLER
TEMPERATURES AND LAKE BREEZE IN THE CITY.
.CHI...HEAT WARNING FOR CHICAGO METRO AREA FOR TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY.
HEAT ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR MOST OF NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND
NORTHWEST INDIANA
WHWIn the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 4:54 AM CST, 3 hours 6 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 011600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 600 AM CDT/EST MON JUL 1 2002 FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS POSTED FOR THE CHICAGO METRO AREA FOR TODAY...TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. A HEAT ADVISORY IS POSTED FOR THE REST OF NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. HIGH PRESSURE OFF THE EASAT COAST WILL CONTINUE TO FORCE HOT AND HUMID AIR INTO THE REGION TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THIS FRONT AS IT SLOWLY GETS CLOSER WILL SET UP A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS LATE TUESDAY...TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. ANOTHER WARM FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION SATURDAY WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. WHW
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, Cook | 2002-07-01 | 59 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-02 | 53 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-03 | 82 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-03 | 69 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-03 | 46 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-04 | 71 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-04 | 50 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-04 | 73 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-05 | 60 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-03 | 59 | Male | Other | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-06 | 90 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-03 | 58 | 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 Pennsylvania, July 1 to 4, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Texas, July 1 to 6, 2002
- Heat in Michigan, July 1 to 4, 2002
- Heat in Maryland, July 1 to 4, 2002
- Rip Current in Florida, July 1, 2002
- Heat in Missouri, July 1, 2002
- Wildfire in Colorado, July 1 to 2, 2002
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Tennessee, July 1, 2002
- Wildfire in Colorado, July 1 to 4, 2002
- Wildfire in Colorado, July 1 to 17, 2002
- Wildfire in Colorado, July 1 to 10, 2002
- Wildfire in Colorado, July 1 to 17, 2002
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, July 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: 5303353.