Heat, Alexander
- When
- August 1, 11:00 AM CST to August 2, 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Alexander forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 37.192, -89.338 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The heat index peaked between 105 and 113 degrees across southern Illinois on August 1st. Hourly measurements of the heat index peaked as high as 113 degrees at Harrisburg and Fairfield, 110 at Mount Vernon, 108 at Marion, 107 at Carbondale, and 105 at Cairo.
Every event with a place to put it; 19 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.
The heat index peaked between 105 and 113 degrees across southern Illinois on August 1st. Hourly measurements of the heat index peaked as high as 113 degrees at Harrisburg and Fairfield, 110 at Mount Vernon, 108 at Marion, 107 at Carbondale, and 105 at Cairo. Heat indices were a little lower in most areas the next day, but still peaked at or above 105 degrees in the Wabash Valley and near Cairo. The highest heat indices on August 2nd were 110 degrees at Fairfield, 108 at Harrisburg, and 105 at Cairo and Mount Vernon.
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 1, 2:24 AM CST, 8 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
324 AM CDT AUG 1 2006
.DISCUSSION...
MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS ARE TEMPS AND HUMIDITY THROUGH MID
WEEK...THEN PRECIP CHANCES LATE WEEK.
LOOKING BACK AT YESTERDAYS HEAT INDICES ACROSS THE PAH FORECAST
AREA...MOST LOCATIONS REACHED AROUND 105 AND HIGHER...WITH ONLY A
COUPLE OF EXCEPTIONS. THOUGH CONDITIONS MAY BE A TAD LESS HUMID
TODAY DUE TO MIXING...WENT AHEAD AND ISSUED A HEAT ADVISORY FOR THIS
AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING...WITH MOST LOCATIONS AGAIN PROBABLY SEEING
HEAT INDICES RIGHT AROUND 105 DEGREES. CONDITIONS WILL BE VERY
SIMILAR ON WEDNESDAY...BUT PREFER TO SEE HOW TODAY PANS OUT BEFORE
ISSUING AN ADVISORY FOR WEDNESDAY.
FOR THE LATE WEEK PRECIP CHANCES...GFS AND NAM ARE PICKING UP A
LITTLE SPEED FOR THE APPROACH OF THE COLD FRONT...MOVING IT ACROSS
THE AREA MAINLY THURSDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY. LAST NIGHT MODELS
HAD SLOWED IT DOWN QUITE A BIT. TWEAKED POPS UPWARD A LITTLE FOR
THURSDAY NIGHT...OTHERWISE LEFT THE REST OF THE POPS AS IS DUE TO
UNCERTAINTY OF BOTH TIMING AND JUST HOW FAR SOUTH FRONT WILL GET.
MET GUIDANCE HAS BEEN RUNNING A LITTLE COOLER THAN MAV FOR DAYTIME
HIGHS...AND EVEN THESE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF DEGREES TOO WARM. NEAR
TERM HIGHS IN GRIDS ARE NEAR TO A LITTLE BELOW MET NUMBERS...SO ONLY
MADE ONLY MINOR CHANGES IN TEMPERATURES IN A FEW PERIODS. ONLY
EXCEPTION WAS TWEAKED DOWN HIGHS THURSDAY FOR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF
THE PAH FA BASED ON BOTH MAV AND MET GUIDANCE TRENDS...AND THE
POSSIBILITY OF MORE CLOUDS MAKING INTO THE AREA AHEAD OF FRONT.
IN THE EXTENDED...GOING TEMPS ARE IN THE BALL PARK OF LATEST MEX
GUIDANCE...SO ONLY MADE A FEW SMALL TWEAKS.
&&
.PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KY...HEAT ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR
BALLARD-CALDWELL-CALLOWAY-CARLISLE-CHRISTIAN-CRITTENDEN-
DAVIESS-FULTON-GRAVES-HENDERSON-HICKMAN-HOPKINS-LIVINGSTON-
LYON-MARSHALL-MCCRACKEN-MCLEAN-MUHLENBERG-TODD-TRIGG-UNION
KY-WEBSTER.
MO...HEAT ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR
BOLLINGER-BUTLER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-CARTER-MISSISSIPPI-NEW
MADRID-PERRY MO-RIPLEY-SCOTT-STODDARD-WAYNE MO.
IL...HEAT ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR
ALEXANDER-EDWARDS-FRANKLIN-GALLATIN-HAMILTON-HARDIN-JACKSON-
JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-MASSAC-PERRY IL-POPE-PULASKI-SALINE-UNION
IL-WABASH-WAYNE IL-WHITE-WILLIAMSON.
IN...HEAT ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR
GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-SPENCER-VANDERBURGH-WARRICK.
&&
RSTHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 454 AM CDT TUE AUG 1 2006 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-021000- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 454 AM CDT TUE AUG 1 2006 ...A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY UNTIL 8 PM THIS EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT HEAT INDICES WILL REACH FROM AROUND 105 TO POSSIBLY 110 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE QUAD STATE REGION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE ENTIRE QUAD STATE THURSDAY THROUGH THE EARLY PART OF THE WEEKEND. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY NIGHT MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM OWENSBORO KENTUCKY...TO ROSICLARE ILLINOIS...TO SCOTT CITY MISSOURI...TO WEST OF PERRYVILLE. THE MAIN HAZARD WITH ANY SEVERE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS. FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...DAYTIME HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 90S AND HIGH HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE HEAT INDEX VALUES IN THE 100 TO 105 DEGREE RANGE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AND ADJACENT PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...AND ALSO ACROSS SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND ADJACENT PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST KENTUCKY. RST
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
19 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, August 2006
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: 5529827, 5529828, 5529829, 5529830, 5529831, 5529887, 5529888, 5529889, 5529890, 5529891, 5529892, 5529893, 5529894, 5529895, 5529896, 5529897, 5529898, 5529899, 5529900.