Cold/Wind Chill — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2015-02-05 to 2015-02-06 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

A new arctic air mass following the passage of a cold front caused two people to die from hypothermia in the local Philadelphia area on the 5th. In Philadelphia, a 68-year-old man was found dead in his unheated home. In Lower Merion Township (Montgomery County), a 93-year-old woman suffering from dementia was found dead in her driveway. The combination of west to northwest winds of 10 to 15 mph and the same arctic air mass over the Poconos also produced wind chill factors of around 15 degrees below zero during the morning of the 6th. Actual air temperatures were close to zero. While the winds continued during the day on the 6th, air temperatures rose into the double digits. The lowest hourly wind chill factor at Mount Pocono (Monroe County) was 16 degrees below zero while the actual low temperature on the morning of the 6th was zero. The overnight low temperature in Philadelphia was 14 degrees while the lowest wind chill factors approached zero during the evening of the 5th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 563230. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.