Heat, Cook
- When
- July 7, 8:00 AM CST to July 8, 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cook forecast zone
- Deaths
- 4 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
Heat in Illinois, July 7 to 8, 2002
After a brief cool down on July 5th and 6th, high temperatures reached the upper 80s and lower 90s on July 7th and 8th with low temperatures in the middle to upper 60s. This short hot spell was responsible for 4 fatalities in Cook county.
The toll
- Deaths
- 4
- 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.
After a brief cool down on July 5th and 6th, high temperatures reached the upper 80s and lower 90s on July 7th and 8th with low temperatures in the middle to upper 60s. This short hot spell was responsible for 4 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 7, 2:45 AM CST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 2:45 AM CST, 5 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 345 AM CDT SUN JUL 7 2002 UPPER RIDGE WILL MAINTAIN ITS POSITION OVER THE CENTRAL US DURING THE EARLY PART OF THIS FORECAST CYCLE. BY MONDAY EVENING CHANGE BEGINS TO UPPER PATTERN AS WAVES DIGS SOUTHEAST ACROSS ONTARIO AND SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS IN SOUTHERN CANADA. COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW IS EXPECTED TO PASS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA LATE MONDAY BRINGING THE NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIP BEGINNING MONDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING THROUGH FROPA. WITH THE UPPER RIDGE HOLDING TODAY, SURFACE TEMPS SHOULD BE A LITTLE WARMER. SURFACE DEWPOINTS SHOWS POOL OF MOIST AIR IS POISED JUST TO THE WEST AND WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA MONDAY AS THE SURFACE HIGH MOVES OFF TO THE EAST. WARMER, MORE HUMID WEATHER WILL BE SHORT-LIVED AS FRONTAL PASSAGE BRING TEMPS BACK DOWN TO SEASONAL READINGS. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING REINFORCING COOLER AIR IN BY LATE IN THE WEEK AS MAXS FALL INTO THE MIDDLE AND UPPER 70S. EASTERLY WIND COMPONENT WILL HELP TEMPS STAY EVEN COOLER NEAR THE LAKE MICHIGAN SHORE. .CHI...NONE SOMREK
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 4:34 AM CST, 3 hours 26 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019 -071100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 600 AM CDT/EST SUN JUL 7 2002 FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINEU TO EXERT ITS INFLUENCE OVER THE AREA TODAY. AS THE HIGH DEPARTS MONDAY, TEMPERATURES WILL WARM AND MOISTURE WILL INCREASE. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AN EARLY LOOK SUGGESTS THAT SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE OVER EXTREME NORTHERN ILLINOIS.
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 | 2002-07-09 | 55 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-09 | 45 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-08 | 28 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-07-08 | 85 | 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
- Lightning Strike in Idaho, July 7, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Washington, July 7, 2002
- Flash Flood in Minnesota, July 7 to 8, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 7, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Washington, July 7, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, July 7, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, July 7, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 7, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Minnesota, July 7 to 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Washington, July 7, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oregon, July 7, 2002
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Tennessee, July 7, 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: 5303354.