Pennsylvania, 1997

Heat in Pennsylvania, August 16 to 17, 1997

August 16 to 17, 1997 · NWS PHI · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

The weekend of August 16th and 17th brought some of the hottest and most humid air of the summer into Southeastern Pennsylvania. High temperatures in most places reached well into the 90s, while dew point temperatures (an indication of how humid the air mass is) were as high as the mid 70s.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
2
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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 PHI wrote it up.

The weekend of August 16th and 17th brought some of the hottest and most humid air of the summer into Southeastern Pennsylvania. High temperatures in most places reached well into the 90s, while dew point temperatures (an indication of how humid the air mass is) were as high as the mid 70s. The apparent temperature or heat index in Philadelphia on the 16th reached between 110 and 115 degrees. Two more heat related deaths occurred within Philadelphia and this brought the final total of heat related deaths in Philadelphia to 33 for the summer of 1997. The highest temperatures this weekend (on Saturday the 16th for most locations) included 100 degrees at Crum Creek (delaware County), 99 degrees at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, 98 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport (a new record for the 16th), Green Lane (Montgomery County) and Levittown (Bucks County), 97 degrees in Reading (Berks County) and Valley Forge (Montgomery County) and 96 degrees in New Hope (Bucks County) and Hamburg (Berks County). The hot spell ended abruptly as a strong cold front moved through the region late on the 17th.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Berks

When
August 16, 9:00 AM EST to August 17, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Berks forecast zone
Coordinates
40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Bucks

When
August 16, 9:00 AM EST to August 17, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Bucks forecast zone

Heat, Chester

When
August 16, 9:00 AM EST to August 17, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Chester forecast zone

Heat, Delaware

When
August 16, 9:00 AM EST to August 17, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Delaware forecast zone
Coordinates
39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Montgomery

When
August 16, 9:00 AM EST to August 17, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone

Heat, Philadelphia

When
August 16, 9:00 AM EST to August 17, 7:00 PM EST
Where
Philadelphia forecast zone
Deaths
2 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates
40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Heat, Philadelphia1997-08-1788MalePermanent HomeDirect
Heat, Philadelphia1997-08-1753FemalePermanent HomeDirect

What these are

Heat
Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, August 1997

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5621598, 5621599, 5621600, 5621601, 5621602, 5621603.