Heat, Philadelphia
- When
- August 7, 8:00 AM EST to August 10, 8:00 PM EST
- Where
- Philadelphia forecast zone
- Deaths
- 5 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in Pennsylvania, August 7 to 10, 2000
An unseasonably hot and extremely humid air mass was over the city of Philadelphia during most of the work week of August 7th. High temperatures reached into the lower 90s from the 7th through the 10th in and around Philadelphia.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 5
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
An unseasonably hot and extremely humid air mass was over the city of Philadelphia during most of the work week of August 7th. High temperatures reached into the lower 90s from the 7th through the 10th in and around Philadelphia. Even more important, were the very high dew point temperatures, mainly in the lower and mid 70s. This prevented the surrounding suburbs and especially the city from cooling off at night. The low temperatures on both the 8th and 9th at the Franklin Institute within Philadelphia were 77 degrees. This run of hot and very humid weather led to the heat related deaths of six people within Philadelphia. A weak cold front brought slightly less humid air into the region late in the day on the 10th. Highest temperatures included 93 degrees in Crum Creek (Delaware County) and Green Lane (Montgomery County), 92 degrees at the Franklin Institute within Philadelphia, the Willow Grove NAS (Montgomery County), West Chester (Chester County) and the Philadelphia International Airport and 90 degrees at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport and Neshaminy Falls (Bucks County)
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, Philadelphia | 2000-08-08 | 73 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Philadelphia | 2000-08-10 | 85 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Philadelphia | 2000-08-11 | 72 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Philadelphia | 2000-08-11 | 77 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Heat, Philadelphia | 2000-08-11 | 78 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
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
- Flash Flood in Illinois, August 7, 2000
- Heat in Missouri, August 7 to 12, 2000
- Heat in Texas, August 7, 2000
- Flash Flood and Hail in Virginia, August 7, 2000
- Wildfire in Wyoming, August 7 to 18, 2000
- Tornadoes in Minnesota, August 7, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Maryland, August 7, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Wind in District of Columbia, August 7, 2000
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, August 7, 2000
- Hail in South Dakota, August 7, 2000
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, August 7, 2000
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, August 7 to 8, 2000
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, August 2000
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: 5172639.