Heat related deaths occurred after consecutive days of high temperatures over 100 degrees and low temperatures over 77 degrees as recorded at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 FWD wrote it up.
Heat related deaths occurred after consecutive days of high temperatures over 100 degrees and low temperatures over 77 degrees as recorded at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 23, 1:13 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 213 PM CDT WED JUL 23 2008 .DISCUSSION... DOLLY TO MAKE LANDFALL BY MID AFTERNOON AS IT CONTINUES TO TRACK WESTWARD. SOME ISOLATED CONVECTION IS OCCURRING OVER THE FAR SOUTHERN COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON AND SOME SHOULD CONTINUE THIS EVENING BEFORE IT CONTRACTS BACK AROUND THE CENTER TONIGHT. WE/LL KEEP LOW CHANCE POPS OVER THE FAR SOUTHERN CWA OVERNIGHT. COME THURSDAY WITH DOLLY/S MOISTURE IN PLACE ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS...WE/LL HAVE 30-50 POPS OVER THE SOUTHERN AREAS WITH 20S UP TO THE I-20 CORRIDOR. WITH AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS...SCATTERED RAINFALL AND TROPICAL AIR MASS...THE SOUTHERN HALF WILL HIGHS SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL WHILE AROUND NORMAL OVER THE NORTHERN HALF. AS DOLLY FALLS APART OVER NORTHERN MEXICO FRIDAY...OUR TEMPS WILL REBOUND AND THE RAIN WILL END AS THE UPPER HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BUILDS BACK OVER NORTH TEXAS. THE RETURN TO HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY. BEYOND NEXT TUESDAY...THIS MORNINGS GFS IS MUCH DIFFERENT BY MID NEXT WEEK IN REGARDS TO THE REMNANTS OF DOLLY THAN THE LAST SEVERAL RUNS. OUR CONFIDENCE IN THIS SOLUTION IS LOW AND WE/LL WAIT FOR SEVERAL MORE RUNS BEFORE COMMITTING TO IT (WET SOLUTION). 75 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 80 95 77 98 78 / 5 10 10 5 5 WACO, TX 77 91 74 95 75 / 20 40 20 10 5 PARIS, TX 74 95 73 95 75 / 20 5 10 5 5 DENTON, TX 76 95 76 98 76 / 5 10 10 5 5 MCKINNEY, TX 74 95 75 97 75 / 5 10 10 5 5 DALLAS, TX 80 95 78 97 77 / 5 20 10 5 5 TERRELL, TX 78 93 74 95 75 / 10 20 10 5 5 CORSICANA, TX 77 91 73 95 74 / 10 30 10 10 5 TEMPLE, TX 75 89 73 93 74 / 20 50 20 10 5 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 26/75
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 259 PM CDT WED JUL 23 2008 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-241100- ANDERSON-BELL-BOSQUE-COLLIN-COMANCHE-COOKE-CORYELL-DALLAS-DELTA- DENTON-EASTLAND-ELLIS-ERATH-FALLS-FANNIN-FREESTONE-GRAYSON-HAMILTON- HENDERSON-HILL-HOOD-HOPKINS-HUNT-JACK-JOHNSON-KAUFMAN-LAMAR-LAMPASAS- LEON-LIMESTONE-MCLENNAN-MILAM-MILLS-MONTAGUE-NAVARRO-PALO PINTO- PARKER-RAINS-ROBERTSON-ROCKWALL-SOMERVELL-STEPHENS-TARRANT-VAN ZANDT- WISE-YOUNG- 259 PM CDT WED JUL 23 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE... THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING...GENERALLY SOUTH AND EAST OF A LAMPASAS...WACO...PARIS LINE. AFTER MIDNIGHT... THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY SOUTH OF A LAMPASAS...PALESTINE LINE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...GENERALLY SOUTH OF A GOLDTHWAITE...HILLSBORO...ATHENS LINE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT. MOREOVER...SEVERE WEATHER THIS WEEK IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. 26
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
An 82-year-old woman died from heat-related causes following six consecutive days with highs of 100 degrees or more and lows of 77 degrees or more.
An 84-year-old man died from excessive heat just outside his home, and his wife was found inside also deceased. The woman also had heart failure. The high temperature was 104 degrees with high humidity.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excessive Heat, Dallas | 2008-07-23 | 82 | Female | Unknown | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Dallas | 2008-07-28 | 84 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Dallas | 2008-07-28 | 95 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, July 2008
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: 126143, 126133.