Heat in Missouri, August 1 to 6, 2002

Name: Heat in Missouri, August 1 to 6, 2002
Start: 2002-08-01T23:00
End: 2002-08-06T11:00
Location: Missouri

August 1 to 6, 2002 · NWS LSX · 22 events in 22 counties and zones

The hot temperatures of late July continued across central and eastern Missouri into early August. The temperature his 101 degrees in St.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 22 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 59
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 22

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 LSX wrote it up.

The hot temperatures of late July continued across central and eastern Missouri into early August. The temperature his 101 degrees in St. Louis on August 1, and then was 99 for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Columbia hit 99 degrees on August 3rd. There was one death reported by local health officials. A 59 year old man died in Boone County from heat exhaustion after collapsing in his yard while doing yard work.

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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 1, 12:50 PM CST, 10 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 1, 12:50 PM CST, 10 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
150 PM CDT THU AUG 1 2002

THE BIG QUESTION FOR THE SHORT TERM IS HOW FAR SOUTH WILL OUR FRONT
PROGRESS BEFORE WASHING OUT.  RELATED TO THIS...WILL ANY PRECIP FORM
ALONG IT TOMORROW AFTER IT WASHES OUT?  THE ETA AND THE AVN ARE
REMARKABLY SIMILAR WITH HOW THEY HANDLE THE FRONT.  THE AVN IS
SLIGHTLY MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH ITS MOVEMENT INTO CENTRAL MISSOURI BY
12Z TOMORROW MORNING.  ETA SLIGHTLY FURTHER NORTH AND WEST AT THAT
TIME.  BY 18Z FRIDAY...BOTH MODELS HAVE STOPPED THE FRONT AND THERE
IS NO MORE SOUTHEASTWARD PROGRESS.  BOTH MODELS ARE AGAIN SIMILAR
WITH MOVING THE FRONT BACK NORTHWARD...WITH THE ETA JUST SLIGHTLY
MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH THE NORTHWARD MOVEMENT.  SURFACE MOISTURE
CONVERGENCE ALONG THE FRONT FROM THE ETA IS NOT VERY
IMPRESSIVE...20-25G/KG AT BEST IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND
NORTHEAST MISSOURI TONIGHT.  THE FURTHER SOUTHEAST IT GETS...THE
WEAKER THE CONVERGENCE.  THIS MIGHT BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR SOME
SCATTERED CONVECTION TONIGHT...BUT IM NOT VERY OPTIMISTIC.  THE
METS 58 POP IN THE QUINCY GROUP LOOKS TOO HIGH.  THE 50 POP WEVE
GOT GOING LOOKS ABOUT RIGHT...BUT MAY LOWER IT TO 40.  30 POPS
ELSEWHERE LOOK GOOD.  THERE SEEMS TO BE EVEN LESS REASON TO KEEP
POPS GOING ON FRIDAY THAN THERE DOES FOR TONIGHT.  SURFACE
CONVERGENCE IS VERY WEAK...AND LARGE SCALE DESCENT FROM 5940M 500MB
RIDGE SHOULD KEEP CONVECTION DOWN TO A MINIMUM.  30 POPS ON FRIDAY
AFTERNOON...THEN DRY THEREAFTER LOOKS REASONABLE TO ME.  TEMPS MIGHT
BE HELD DOWN A BIT ON FRIDAY WITH CLOUDS IN VICINITY OF THE
FRONT...AND WE MIGHT SEE SOME DRIER AIR FILTER INTO THE CWFA AS
WELL...SO WILL NOT REISSUE HEAT ADVISORY FOR TOMORROW.

HAVE GOOD CONFIDENCE IN THE EXTENDED PART (MON-THU) OF THIS
PACKAGE.  MEDIUM RANGE MODELS AGREE WITH SLOWLY BUILDING UPR RIDGE
OVER THE MID MS VLY EARLY NEXT WEEK.  WILL KEEP CWA DRY UNDER HI AND
BUMP HIGHS UP A CAT OVER FMR/MEX GUIDANCE AS 850 TEMPS ARE AOA 20C
THRU PERIOD.

.STL...NONE

CARNEY/BRITT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

22 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Audrain

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Audrain forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.216, -91.842 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Boone

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 7 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.991, -92.310 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Callaway

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Callaway forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.836, -91.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Cole

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Cole forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.505, -92.282 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Crawford

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.976, -91.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Franklin

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Injuries: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.411, -91.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Gasconade

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Gasconade forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.441, -91.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Iron

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Iron forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.504, -90.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Jefferson

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.261, -90.538 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Lincoln

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.058, -90.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Madison

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.478, -90.345 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Moniteau

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Moniteau forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.633, -92.583 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Montgomery

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.942, -91.470 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Osage

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Osage forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.460, -91.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Reynolds

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Reynolds forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.362, -90.969 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, St. Charles

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: St. Charles forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.782, -90.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, St. Francois

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: St. Francois forecast zone
Injuries: 8 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.810, -90.472 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, St. Louis

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: St. Louis forecast zone
Injuries: 26 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.641, -90.443 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, St. Louis (C)

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: St. Louis (C) forecast zone
Injuries: 9 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.627, -90.198 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Ste. Genevieve

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Ste. Genevieve forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.894, -90.194 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Warren

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Warren forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.765, -91.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Washington

When: August 1, 11:00 PM CST to August 6, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.962, -90.877 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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, Boone	2002-08-06	59	Male	Outside/Open Areas	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 Missouri in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, 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: 5314029, 5314030, 5314031, 5314032, 5314033, 5314107, 5314108, 5314109, 5314110, 5314111, 5314112, 5314113, 5314114, 5314115, 5314116, 5314117, 5314118, 5314119, 5314120, 5314121, 5314122, 5314123.