Philadelphia Weather: Dangerous Heat On Tap To Start Week; Heat Health Emergency Declared For Monday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Dangerous heat and humidity remain the biggest story in the weather department over the next 48 hours. On Sunday temperatures will soar into the upper 90s across the region, with a high of 98 degrees in Philadelphia. Sunday's record high is 100 degrees set in 1930.
When you add in the humidity today, we can expect it to feel like the triple digits.
The only places to escape the full brunt of the high heat will be the far northern areas like the Poconos and at the immediate New Jersey coastline.
It looks to remain dry today as well.
The overnight hours will offer little in the way of relief from the hot and sticky conditions. Lows tonight into Monday morning are barely going to drop into the 70s.
A few, isolated showers or rumbles of thunder could develop tonight but they would be few and far between.
Monday is going to be the peak of the extreme heat as a hazy, very hot and extremely humid day is on tap for the start of the workweek. Highs tomorrow will once again be near 98 in the city and it would not be surprising if a few areas even touched the triple digits with the actual temperature, not the heat index.
When you combine the hot weather with the high humidity on Monday it could feel as hot as 110 degrees at times in the afternoon.
A couple of isolated thunderstorms are not totally ruled out Monday either. They would be pretty hit and miss though.
A heat health emergency has been declared for Philadelphia beginning 8:30 a.m. Monday and is scheduled to end at midnight.
The emergency activates the City's emergency heat programs, which include the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging's Heatline, cooling centers, home visits by special field teams, enhanced daytime outreach for people experiencing homelessness. The city is also reminding the public to safely check on older friends, relatives, and neighbors from a distance.
"While the City has opened a number of sites to help our most vulnerable stay cool during the Heat Health Emergency, the best thing that we can do to help our family members, neighbors, and loved ones is to use this time to check on them. This can be done socially distanced, by phone or—if they are tech savvy enough—by video. This is also an opportunity to put your mask on, knock on their door, step back six feet, and say hi. Ask if they need anything; if you're worried about their safety or they need something you can't provide, call the Heatline at 215-765-9040. Remember, we are a city of neighborhoods and neighborhoods only work if we're truly neighbors," Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said.
To read more about Heat Health Emergencies, click here.
We will get limited relief heading into Tuesday. Temperatures will still be in the middle 90s but the humidity should be slightly more comfortable.
Through the middle of the week, the humidity ramps up once more starting Wednesday through Thursday. A few thunderstorms could develop on Wednesday as well and again late on Thursday as high temperatures sit in the lower 90s.
We should return to a more seasonable pattern by Friday and the coming weekend.
