Wisconsin, 2005

Heat in Wisconsin, July 24, 2005

July 24, 2005 · NWS MKX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

A mid-summer heat wave developed across the Midwest and Great Lakes as an upper-level ridge amplified. West to southwest winds pumped in very hot and humid air, making for the hottest temperatures observed in several years.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
7

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 mid-summer heat wave developed across the Midwest and Great Lakes as an upper-level ridge amplified. West to southwest winds pumped in very hot and humid air, making for the hottest temperatures observed in several years. High temperatures ranged from the middle 90s to around 100 across parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Some maximum temperatures were 97 at Janesville (Rock Co.), 101 at the waste water treatment plant in Kenosha, 100 near Genoa City (Walworth Co.), 99 at both Racine and Kenosha, and 97 at Milwaukee General Mitchell Int'l Airport. These temperatures, coupled with dew points in the lower or middle 70s, created dangerous heat index readings of between 110 to 113 degrees during the mid-afternoon and evening hours. The highest heat index values noted were 113 at Watertown (Jefferson Co.), 112 at Janesville (Rock Co.), and 110 at Waukesha (Waukesha Co.), Burlington (Racine Co.), and Kenosha (Kenosha Co.). There were no reports of heat-related fatalities or injuries. Over the remainder of south-central and southeast Wisconsin maximum afternoon temperatures peaked in the lower to mid 90s with heat index values topping out at 102 to 109, which is below excessive heat criteria.

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 Jul 24, 2:00 PM CST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 2:00 PM CST, 0 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 24, 3:38 AM CST, 10 hours 22 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Jefferson

When
July 24, 2:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where
Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Waukesha

When
July 24, 2:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where
Waukesha forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Milwaukee

When
July 24, 2:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where
Milwaukee forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Rock

When
July 24, 2:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where
Rock forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Walworth

When
July 24, 2:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where
Walworth forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Racine

When
July 24, 2:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where
Racine forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Kenosha

When
July 24, 2:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where
Kenosha forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
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

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, July 2005

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: 5464167, 5464168, 5464169, 5464170, 5464171, 5464172, 5464173.