Heat, Racine
- When
- June 22, 12:00 PM CST to June 25, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Racine forecast zone
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in Wisconsin, June 22 to 25, 2002
A long-duration, early-season. heat wave affected Milwaukee and Racine counties, resulting in a directly-related death, and an indirectly-related death.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 9
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 long-duration, early-season. heat wave affected Milwaukee and Racine counties, resulting in a directly-related death, and an indirectly-related death. This heat wave didn't meet official heat-wave criteria, but the duration and timing was sufficient to adversely affect humans. A 43-year old City of Milwaukee man was found dead on the steps of a Milwaukee church with a body temperature of 111 on June 23rd. Heat was the primary cause of death based on medical reports (death is directly related to heat). The maximum air temperature was only in the lower 90s across the city of Milwaukee, with General Mitchell Field registering 91. Heat Index values were in the 95 to 100 range. The morning low at Mitchell Field was 71. Normal highs and lows for June 23rd are 78 and 58. In addition, a 37-year-old City of Racine women died in her apartment on June 23rd, after her body temperature reached 109 degrees. Medical reports indicated that heat was a secondary cause of death (indirectly-related to heat). Maximum air temperatures in Racine ranged from 90 to 91, after overnight lows around 68. Heat indices were in the 95 to 100 degree range. June 23rd was the second of four consecutive days with maximum readings in the lower 90s across southeast and south-central Wisconsin, and minimum temperatures in the upper 60s to lower 70s, both about 12 to 15 degrees above normal.
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 22, 2:52 AM CST, 9 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 2:52 AM CST, 9 hours 8 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 352 AM CDT SAT JUN 22 2002 FCST FOCUS ON PCPN ENDING AND TEMPS/HEAT INDICES FOR THE WEEKEND. BAND OF HEAVY RAIN OVR NRN CWA IS DISSIPATING AS WAA PATTERN IS PROGGED TO LIFT NORTH ALONG WITH SFC WMFNT TODAY. MAIN BAND OF WESTERLIES TO REMAIN JUST NORTH OF CANADIAN BORDER WITH WMFNT BECOMING STATIONARY OVR NRN WI THROUGH MON. ETA FCST SOUNDINGS INDICATE MID LEVEL CAPPING MOVING INTO CWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON WITH STRONG CAP EXPECTED TO HOLD THROUGH MONDAY. WARM SECTOR COMPRISES OF 576 THICKNESS THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. AWAY FROM LAKE MICHIGAN TODAY...EXPECT DEWPOINTS TO REMAIN IN LOW 70S WITH HEAT INDICES AROUND 100. SOME INDICATION THAT DEWPOINTS MAY DROP OF SEVERAL DEGREES SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH THE ARRIVAL OF A MUCH DRIER AIRMASS JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE. .MKX...NONE. GEHRING
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
9 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, Milwaukee
- When
- June 22, 12:00 PM CST to June 25, 6:00 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 22, 12:00 PM CST to June 25, 6:00 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 22, 12:00 PM CST to June 25, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Walworth forecast zone
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Kenosha
- When
- June 22, 12:00 PM CST to June 25, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Kenosha forecast zone
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Rock
- When
- June 22, 12:00 PM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Rock forecast zone
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Jefferson
- When
- June 22, 12:00 PM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson forecast zone
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Washington
- When
- June 22, 12:00 PM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Washington forecast zone
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 43.369, -88.231 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Ozaukee
- When
- June 22, 12:00 PM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Ozaukee forecast zone
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 43.403, -87.891 (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, Milwaukee | 2002-06-23 | 43 | 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
- Rip Current in North Carolina, June 22, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Wisconsin, June 22, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Minnesota, June 22 to 24, 2002
- Flooding in Wisconsin, June 22, 2002
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Montana, June 22 to 23, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Wyoming, June 22, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, June 22, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Hail in North Dakota, June 22, 2002
- Lightning Strike in North Dakota, June 22, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, June 22 to 23, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Wisconsin, June 22, 2002
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Rhode Island, June 22, 2002
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: 5303085, 5303086, 5303087, 5303088, 5303089, 5303090, 5303091, 5303092, 5303093.