Wisconsin, 2002

Heat in Wisconsin, June 20, 2002

June 20, 2002 · NWS MKX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

A brief, one day heat wave affected parts of southeast Wisconsin, resulting in the death of a 38-year-old male in the city of Milwaukee. After several days with maximum temperatrures in the 50s, 60's and 70's, the heat on June 20th was sudden enough to affect humans.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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

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The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

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.

A brief, one day heat wave affected parts of southeast Wisconsin, resulting in the death of a 38-year-old male in the city of Milwaukee. After several days with maximum temperatrures in the 50s, 60's and 70's, the heat on June 20th was sudden enough to affect humans. Milwaukee Mitchell Field registered a high of 90 and a mininum of 72, about 13 to 15 degrees above normal. Similar readings were noted elsewhere in southeast Wisconsin. Heat indices were 95 to 100, thus this heat wave didn't meet the official criteria for a heat wave. Full sunshine and southwest winds of 15 to 25 mph were also observed.

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 Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 19, 1:45 PM CST, 10 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 19, 1:45 PM CST, 10 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
245 PM CDT WED JUN 19 2002

FCST FOCUS ON PCPN CHCS THRU FRI.

LAST NIGHTS COMPLEX JUST GRAZED US ON THE NE EDGE WHILE NEW
ACTIVITY GETTING GOING WITH SUSTAINED 40 KT LLJ...EVEN 50KT AT BLR
IN SW WI AND PRONOUNCED ISEN LIFT NOTED ON 310K SFC. SO PCPN
GETTING GOING...ESP ACRS SC WITH SOME T...AND OTHER SHRA FRMG AS
WELL. MODELS TREND THE ISEN FORCING DOWN BY 6Z. WILL PROB NEED TO
KEEP MENTION OF PCPN IN MOST ZONE CUTS WITH THIS ACTIVITY...BUT WILL
WAIT TIL FINAL MINUTE TO SEE.

FOR LTR TNGT PROGS IMPLYING THE AIM OF LLJ IS MORE TOWARDS
CNTRL WI TNGT...WITH H8 DVRG DVLPG ACRS SC LATE. HOWEVER A WEAK VORT
AXIS ALONG WITH APPCH FNT/PROXIMITY OF LLJ AND IMPLIED ELEVATED
INSTAB ABOVE H6...WILL WARRANT MAINTAINING POPS IN NW CWA...ESP IF
MCS DVLPS IN NRN PLAINS AND STARTS ROLLING IN HERE LTR TNGT.

SFC FNT IN PLAINS PROGGD TO WEAKEN AS IT COMES INTO NW WI TNGT AND
REST OF WI ON THU. SUSPECT UPR DISTURBANCE...WAY OVERDONE VIA
CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK ON AVN AND TO A LESSER EXTENT ON THE ETA...PROGGD
TO RIDE IN ON SRN EDGE OF WESTERLIES AND INTERACT WITH WEAKENING FNT
TO GENERATE TSRA THU/THU EVE...THO AS POINTED OUT BY SPC...ERLY MRNG
ACTIVITY MAY CUT DOWN ON HTG/DESTAB PROCESSES.

POINT OF CONCERN IS THEN WHERE FNT ENDS UP THU EVE/FRI. AVN/NGM KEEP
BULK OF PCPN TO OUR SOUTH. ETA A LITTLE MORE NWD...AND THIS REFLECTED
IN QPF FIELDS AS WELL. WHILE SFC BNDRY APPEARS TO BE SHUNTED
SOUTH OF WI...THE H8 FNT MAY BE NEARBY...PER NOTED WIND CONV AT THAT
LEVEL...THUS PSBL FOCUS FRI THAT WOULD SUSTAIN PCPN ACRS FAR
SRN WI. WILL KEEP A SML POP GOING IN SRN HALF CWA FOR FRI AND LET
LATER RUNS AND CONVECTIVE TRENDS DETERMINE EVENTUAL PLACEMENT OF
FOCUSING MECHANISMS AND SUBSEQUENT DISTRIBUTION OF POPS.

WENT WITH A BLEND OF MAV/MET NUMBERS.

.MKX...NONE.

COLLAR

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Milwaukee

When
June 20, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Milwaukee forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Waukesha

When
June 20, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Waukesha forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Walworth

When
June 20, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Walworth forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Racine

When
June 20, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Racine forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Kenosha

When
June 20, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Kenosha forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
42.573, -87.840 (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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Heat, Milwaukee2002-06-2038MalePermanent HomeDirect

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

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, 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: 5308046, 5308047, 5308048, 5308049, 5308050.