Name: Heat in Pennsylvania, September 27, 1998
Start: 1998-09-27T09:00
End: 1998-09-27T18:00
Location: Pennsylvania

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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.

A southwest flow of air brought another piece of the unseasonably hot air that affected the southern United States over the past couple of months over the area. High temperatures reached record breaking levels across much of Eastern Pennsylvania. A cold front moved through the region early in the morning on the 28th and slowly dropped temperatures to seasonal levels. The west to east flow of air over the region the rest of the month also prevented the remnants of Hurricane Georges from affecting the area. High temperatures on the 27th included 93 degrees in Crum Creek (Delaware County) and the Franklin Institute within Philadelphia, 91 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport (a new daily record), New Hope (Bucks County) and Reading (Berks County), 90 degrees at the Willow Grove NAS, 89 degrees in Easton (Northampton County) and 88 degrees at the Lehigh Valley International Airport (also a new daily record).

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Berks

When: September 27, 9:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Berks forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Bucks

When: September 27, 9:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Bucks forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Chester

When: September 27, 9:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Chester forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Delaware

When: September 27, 9:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Lehigh

When: September 27, 9:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Lehigh forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Montgomery

When: September 27, 9:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Northampton

When: September 27, 9:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Northampton forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Philadelphia

When: September 27, 9:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where: Philadelphia forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, September 1998

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: 5672938, 5672939, 5672940, 5672941, 5672942, 5672943, 5672944, 5673024.