Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Philadelphia
- When
- January 14, 1:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
- Where
- Philadelphia forecast zone
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.008, -75.134 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold in Pennsylvania, January 14, 2000
One of the coldest air masses of the season worked its way into the Philadelphia region during the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th. The low temperature of 17 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport was the lowest reading so far this winter.
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
- 2
- 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.
One of the coldest air masses of the season worked its way into the Philadelphia region during the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th. The low temperature of 17 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport was the lowest reading so far this winter. The gusty northwest winds produced wind chill factors below zero overnight. As a result code blues were in effect in Philadelphia and some of the surrounding counties. Two homeless men died within Philadelphia the morning of the 14th of exposure. A 69-year-old man was found dead underneath a railroad overpass in the Spring Garden section of the city. A 48-year-old male was found dead near an overpass in the Grays Ferry section of the city.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Philadelphia | 2000-01-14 | 69 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Philadelphia | 2000-01-14 | 48 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
What these are
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5130303.