Heat in Missouri, August 3 to 5, 2002

Name: Heat in Missouri, August 3 to 5, 2002
Start: 2002-08-03T12:00
End: 2002-08-05T21:00
Location: Missouri

August 3 to 5, 2002 · NWS PAH · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

High temperatures reached the upper 90's for three consecutive days. At Cape Girardeau, the high was 97 degrees on the 3rd, and 98 degrees on both the 4th and 5th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 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: 0
Injuries: 3
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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 PAH wrote it up.

High temperatures reached the upper 90's for three consecutive days. At Cape Girardeau, the high was 97 degrees on the 3rd, and 98 degrees on both the 4th and 5th. Humidity levels added to the problem, with afternoon heat indices peaking near 105 degrees. Hospitals reported surprisingly few visits for heat-related illnesses, and no heat-related fatalities occurred. A number of pets and animals reportedly died from heat exhaustion, including a police department's canine member.

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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 3, 2:20 AM CST, 9 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 2:20 AM CST, 9 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
320 AM CDT SAT AUG 3 2002

WEEKEND STILL LOOKS VERY HOT AND HUMID AS UPPER HIGH REMAINS
DOMINANT FEATURE. NUMERICAL GUIDANCE IS RESPONDING WITH TEMPS IN
MID-UPR 90S...AND WE WL CONTINUE OUR TREND OF GOING AOA GUIDANCE NOS
W/A REASONABLY HIGH LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE. W/TDS MAINLY IN THE
L70S...PM HEAT INDICES SHOULD TOP OUT IN THE 105-110 RANGE.
HOWEVER...NIGHT-TIME LOWS IN THE L-M70S WL PRECLUDE MEETING ADVISORY
CRITERIA. INSTEAD WE WL INCLUDE THE MENTION OF EXPECTED HEAT INDICES
IN THE ZONE PACKAGE AND LIKEWISE THE HWO.

WL NOT BE ABLE TO RULE OUT THE ISOLD TSM...PARTICULARLY IN THE HEAT
OF THE DAY...BUT THE COVERAGE OF ANY ACTIVITY WOULD BE ISOLATED
ENOUGH SO AS TO NEGATE ITS MENTION IN THE PACKAGE. THAT IS...AT
LEAST UNTIL MON NIGHT-TUE...WHEN RETROGRADE OF UPR HIGH ALLOWS BACK
DOOR COLD FRONT TO SLIP IN...AND EXTENDED MODELS HAVE BEEN
CONSISTENT AT SUGGESTING FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE RUNS...THRU THE FA.
THIS WL LEAD TO A MID-LATE WEEK COOL DOWN...ALTHOUGHT THE NEW FMR
DATA IS ALREADY HINTING AT WARMER NOS THAN ITS PRECEDING RUN. WEVE
KEPT THE GOING TREND OF THE COOL-DOWN...BUT SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE
W/THE WARMER FMR. THIS DOES MAKE IT COOLER...BUT TEMPS SHOULD STILL
BE SEASONALLY WARM.

.PAH...NONE.
HUMPHREY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Bollinger

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Bollinger forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.322, -90.026 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Butler

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Butler forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.716, -90.407 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Cape Girardeau

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Cape Girardeau forecast zone
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.384, -89.684 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Carter

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Carter forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.941, -90.962 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Mississippi

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Mississippi forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.828, -89.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, New Madrid

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: New Madrid forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.595, -89.652 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Perry

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Perry forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.707, -89.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Ripley

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Ripley forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.653, -90.864 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Scott

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Scott forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.053, -89.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Stoddard

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Stoddard forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.856, -89.944 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Wayne

When: August 3, 12:00 PM CST to August 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.113, -90.461 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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: 5311727, 5311728, 5311729, 5311730, 5311731, 5311732, 5311733, 5311734, 5311735, 5311736, 5311737.