Heat, Marquette
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Marquette forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.820, -89.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in Wisconsin, July 21, 2002
Excessive heat affected most of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on July 21st. This turned out to be the hottest day of the summer of 2002 for this area.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 17 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 17
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 MKX wrote it up.
Excessive heat affected most of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on July 21st. This turned out to be the hottest day of the summer of 2002 for this area. Interestingly, no heat-related deaths were reported up to the initial time of the publication of this report. After overnight lows in the 70s, afternoon temperatures rose to the mid 90s to around 100, about 10 to 15 degrees above normal for the minimums, and 15 to 20 degrees above normal for the maximums. Afternoon heat indices generally peaked in the 105 to 110 range for several hours, but briefly hit 112 in Racine, Janesville, and Wisconsin Dells. Milwaukee Mitchell Field tied its daily high minimum of 78 degrees, set back in 1932. Locations to hit the century mark for maximum temperatures were: 101 in West Allis, and 100 at Mt. Mary College, both in Milwaukee County. Elsewhere, Delavan (Walworth Co.) and Richfield (Washington Co.) topped out at 100. Millwaukee Mitchell Field and Madison Truax Field peaked at 98.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
17 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, Green Lake
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Green Lake forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.800, -89.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Fond du Lac
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Fond du Lac forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.754, -88.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Sauk
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Sauk forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.427, -89.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Columbia
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Columbia forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.467, -89.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Dodge
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Dodge forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.416, -88.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Iowa
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Iowa forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.001, -90.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Dane
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Dane forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Jefferson
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Waukesha
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Waukesha forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Milwaukee
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Milwaukee forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Lafayette
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Lafayette forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Green
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Green forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.680, -89.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Rock
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Rock forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Walworth
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Walworth forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Racine
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Racine forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Kenosha
- When
- July 21, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Kenosha forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.573, -87.840 (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
- Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, July 21, 2002
- Wildfire in California, July 21 to 31, 2002
- Wildfire in California, July 21 to 24, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 21, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Nebraska, July 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 21, 2002
- Flood and Hail in Georgia, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Iowa, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 21, 2002
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5308713, 5308714, 5308715, 5308716, 5308717, 5308718, 5308719, 5308720, 5308721, 5308722, 5308723, 5308724, 5308788, 5308789, 5308790, 5308791, 5308792.