Heat, Cook
- When
- June 21, 5:00 PM CST to June 25, 5:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cook forecast zone
- Deaths
- 7 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
Heat in Illinois, June 21 to 25, 2002
Seven residents of Cook county died of heat related illinesses brought on by a prolonged period of hot weather. High temperatures at Chicago Ohare Airport ranged from the upper 80s to lower 90s with heat indices in the mid to upper 90s between June 21st and June 25th.
The toll
- Deaths
- 7
- 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.
Seven residents of Cook county died of heat related illinesses brought on by a prolonged period of hot weather. High temperatures at Chicago Ohare Airport ranged from the upper 80s to lower 90s with heat indices in the mid to upper 90s between June 21st and June 25th.
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 Jun 21, 1:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 1:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 230 PM CDT FRI JUN 21 2002 PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN NORTH OF MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. 850 AND 700 MB EQUIVALENT POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE FORECASTS SHOW THE WARMER AIR WILL BE HERE THROUGH THIS WEEKEND AND INTO NEXT WEEK. THE 500 MB VORTICITY ADVECTION CORRELATES WELL WITH THE PRECIPITATION ON RADAR AND ENHANCED CLOUD TOPS AS SEEN ON THE SATELLITE. THIS MAXIMUM POSITIVE VORTICITY ADVECTION MOVE THROUGH THIS EVENING ACROSS WISCONSIN AND PARTS OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS. THE UPWARD VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS AT 700 MB SHOW HAVE A MAXIMUM PASS OVER THE SAME AREA AS WELL. SO WILL KEEP SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. LONG RANGE...THE SUBTROPICAL HIGH OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN HAS MOVED NORTH FROM ITS MEAN POSITION. SO EXPECT THE INFLUENCE OF THIS HIGH TO REACH AS FAR WEST AS OUR CWA. WILL KEEP HIGHS IN THE 80S THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK. THAT IS IN AGREEMENT WITH THE MRF MODEL. CHECKING HEAT INDICES FOR SATURDAY. THEY ARE FORECASTED BELOW THE CRITERIA FOR AN ADVISORY AT THIS TIME MAINLY IN DURATION AND VALUE. .CHI...NONE WHW
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 21, 11:01 AM CST, 5 hours 59 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 221300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 1200 PM CDT/EST FRI JUN 21 2002 FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT. THERE WILL BE SOME SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. WE DO NOT EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS WITH SEVERE WEATHER. HOWEVER... THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND STRONG GUSTS OF WIND. HEAT INDICES WILL BE IN THE THE 93 TO 98 RANGE ON SATURDAY. WE DO NOT EXPECT ANY HEAT WARNINGS OR ADVISORIES AT THIS TIME. 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 | 2002-06-21 | 31 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-06-23 | 65 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-06-25 | 47 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-06-25 | 73 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-06-24 | 40 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-06-24 | 52 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Cook | 2002-06-25 | 32 | 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
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, June 21 to 22, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Utah, June 21, 2002
- Flash Flood in Nevada, June 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, June 21, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Minnesota, June 21 to 22, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Michigan, June 21, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Utah, June 21, 2002
- Tornadoes in Iowa, June 21, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Wyoming, June 21, 2002
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Minnesota, June 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, June 21, 2002
- Hail in Montana, June 21, 2002
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, June 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: 5298923.