Excessive Heat in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Unseasonably hot weather that started on the 20th and persisted into the 22nd across extreme southeastern Pennsylvania resulted in high temperatures in the mid to upper 90s and afternoon heat indices of around 100 degrees. The heat claimed the life of a 67-year-old woman withing Philadelphia. On the 21st, in Montgomery County, an eastbound lane of U.S. Route 422 in the Valley Forge National Historical Park heaved and buckled. The lane was closed while it was repaired and this caused a significant traffic backup. Then later that afternoon, another buckling on the same roadway shut down a westbound lane near the Limerick (Montgomery County) exit. In Berks County and in the Lehigh Valley the hottest day was the 20th, while in Southeast Pennsylvania including Philadelphia, the hottest day was the 21st. Highest temperatures included 97 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport, 96 degrees in Reading (Berks County) and Perkasie (Bucks County), 95 degrees at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and West Chester (Chester County) and 94 degrees in Pottstown (Montgomery County) and Doylestown (Bucks County). The hot spell ended when a cold front moved through Eastern Pennsylvania during the evening of the 22nd.