Excessive Heat in Missouri, July 17 to 21, 2019

Name: Excessive Heat in Missouri, July 17 to 21, 2019
Start: 2019-07-17T11:00
End: 2019-07-21T17:00
Location: Missouri

July 17 to 21, 2019 · NWS PAH · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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 PAH wrote it up.

A very large high in the upper levels of the atmosphere was sprawled across the southern two-thirds of the country for several days. This high brought several days of oppressive heat and humidity across southeast Missouri. An outdoor marketplace in Cape Girardeau closed early due to the heat. Afternoon heat indices peaked between 105 and 115 degrees each day from the 17th to the 21st. The heat index at Poplar Bluff peaked at 115 degrees on the 17th, 113 on the 18th, and 108 to 109 from the 19th to the 21st. At Cape Girardeau, the heat index peaked from 105 to 109 each of those five afternoons. Just prior to this heat wave, the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry produced a widespread soaking rain that set the stage for very high humidity levels. Dew points were sometimes in the upper 70's. Actual high temperatures were in the lower 90's.

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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 17, 2:30 AM CST, 8 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 2:30 AM CST, 8 hours 30 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 17, 3:06 AM CST, 7 hours 54 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

11 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Bollinger

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Bollinger forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 37.322, -90.026 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Butler

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Butler forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 36.716, -90.407 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Cape Girardeau

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Cape Girardeau forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 37.384, -89.684 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Carter

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Carter forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 36.941, -90.962 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Mississippi

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Mississippi forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 36.828, -89.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, New Madrid

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: New Madrid forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 36.595, -89.652 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Perry

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Perry forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 37.707, -89.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Ripley

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Ripley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 36.653, -90.864 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Scott

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Scott forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 37.053, -89.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Stoddard

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Stoddard forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 36.856, -89.944 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Wayne

When: July 17, 11:00 AM CST to July 21, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 37.113, -90.461 (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 Missouri in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, July 2019

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: 833403, 833404, 833405, 833406, 833407, 833408, 833409, 833410, 833411, 833412, 833413.