Heat — Bucks, Pennsylvania

2002-06-24 to 2002-06-27 · Bucks, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

The first prolonged period of heat and humidity of the season claimed the life of four people in Southeast Pennsylvania. A 9-year-old girl suffering from cerebral palsy and asthma died of heat stroke while at Sesame Place in Langhorne (Bucks County). Her body temperature was measured at 108F. The other three heat related deaths were elderly women within Philadelphia who had no air conditioning and their windows closed. In order to combat the heat, the city of Philadelphia opened their heat emergency hot lines and kept air-conditioned senior citizen centers opened late. The heat caused the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Valley Forge (Chester County) to buckle. A strong cold frontal passage during the evening of the 27th ended the hot spell.Highest temperatures included 99 degrees in Springfield (Delaware County), 98 degrees at the Franklin Institute within Philadelphia and Green Lane (Montgomery County), 95 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport and New Hope (Bucks County), 94 degrees in West Chester and Valley Forge (Chester County) and Perkasie (Bucks County) and 93 degrees in Pottstown (Montgomery County).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5300715. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.