Excessive Heat in Wisconsin, July 16 to 19, 2013

Name: Excessive Heat in Wisconsin, July 16 to 19, 2013
Start: 2013-07-16T09:00
End: 2013-07-19T18:00
Location: Wisconsin

July 16 to 19, 2013 · NWS MKX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

S. between July 16th and July 19th produced high temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s each day over all of southern Wisconsin, with widespread heat indices of 95 to 99.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 3

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 hot dome of high pressure that covered most of the eastern U.S. between July 16th and July 19th produced high temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s each day over all of southern Wisconsin, with widespread heat indices of 95 to 99. Locations in Milwaukee, Jefferson and Kenosha counties reached heat index values between 100 and 102. During this period, 5 deaths were being investigated as possibly being heat-related in Milwaukee County.

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 16, 2:41 AM CST, 6 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 2:41 AM CST, 6 hours 19 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 16, 3:24 AM CST, 5 hours 36 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
424 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2013

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-170930-
MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE-
WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE-
LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA-
424 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
NIGHT...POSSIBLY LINGERING INTO SATURDAY...AS A STRONG COLD FRONT
DROPS SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BE STRONG
TO SEVERE ON FRIDAY.

A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN FOR SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY NIGHT.

AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL LIKELY REACH 95 TO 99 INLAND
AWAY FROM LAKE MICHIGAN TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY WITH SLIGHTLY
COOLER READINGS EXPECTED ON FRIDAY AS CLOUDS AND THE CHANCE FOR
RAIN INCREASE. A FEW SPOTS COULD CRACK 100 THROUGH THURSDAY.
COOLER AND DRIER WEATHER WILL ARRIVE ON SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH THURSDAY...BUT MAY
BE NEEDED FRIDAY.

LMZ643>646-170930-
SHEBOYGAN TO PORT WASHINGTON WI-
PORT WASHINGTON TO NORTH POINT LIGHT WI-
NORTH POINT LIGHT TO WIND POINT WI-
WIND POINT WI TO WINTHROP HARBOR IL-
424 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
NIGHT...POSSIBLY LINGERING INTO SATURDAY...AS A STRONG COLD FRONT
DROPS SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION. A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL
RETURN FOR SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT.

DDV

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 16, 3:31 AM CST, 5 hours 29 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Jefferson

When: July 16, 9:00 AM CST to July 19, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Milwaukee

When: July 16, 9:00 AM CST to July 19, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Milwaukee forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Kenosha

When: July 16, 9:00 AM CST to July 19, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Kenosha forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Excessive Heat: Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, July 2013

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 470912, 470913, 470914.