Pennsylvania, 2001

Heat in Pennsylvania, June 26 to 30, 2001

June 26 to 30, 2001 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

A large ridge of high pressure both at the surface and aloft along the western Atlantic Ocean produced six consecutive days of heat and increasing humidity across southeastern Pennsylvania from June 26th through July 1st. A cold front broke the excessive heat with strong to severe thunderstorms on July 1st.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
2
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

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 large ridge of high pressure both at the surface and aloft along the western Atlantic Ocean produced six consecutive days of heat and increasing humidity across southeastern Pennsylvania from June 26th through July 1st. A cold front broke the excessive heat with strong to severe thunderstorms on July 1st. High temperatures reached into the mid 90s and combined with the humid air mass produced afternoon heat indices of around 100 degrees. There were three heat related deaths (two in June and one in July). A 70-year-old woman, a 58-year-old man and a 77 year-old woman all perished because of the heat in Philadelphia. June 28th and 30th were the hottest days for most locations. Highest temperatures included 97 degrees at the Franklin Institute within Philadelphia, 96 degrees in Perkasie (Bucks County), 94 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport and West Chester (Chester County), 93 degrees at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport and 91 degrees in Doylestown (Bucks County) and Pottstown (Montgomery County),

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 26, 1:00 AM EST, 10 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 26, 1:00 AM EST, 10 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
200 AM EDT TUE JUN 26 2001

ONE DAY LATER AND FCST SEEMS TO BE THE SAME. H5 CLSD LOW OVR TN VLY
TO SLIP FURTHER AWAY FRM AREA AND MID ATLC H5 RDG BLDS INTO THE
AREA. THIS WL BRG GNRLY FAIR WX TO AREA THRU MOST OF WEEK WITH GRDL
INC IN HT AND HUMIDITY. IT APPEARS AS IF IT WILL START FEELING
SOMEWHAT UNCOMFORTABLE WED AND MORE NOTICEABLE FOR THU AND PROB
FRI.  WITH THIS IN MIND...WL ISSUE SPS FOR IMPENDING HT AND HUM.  AT
THIS TIME CONDITIONS SEEM AS IF THEY WL STAY BELOW HT ADVSRY/XCSV HT
WRNG SO WL NOT CALL IT A HT OTLK.

MDLS CONT TO EVOLVE H5 HI WITH TIME TO OUR S AND THIS MAY ALLOW FOR
FNT THAT WL BE UP IN CANADA TO NR THE AREA IN THE WEEKEND.  TIMING
IS NOT QUITE CERTAIN BUT FOR NOW WL LEAVE IT AS BEING ON SAT.

ON MARINE...NO FLAGS XPCTD.

FCSTID = 14

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Bucks

When
June 26, 11:00 AM EST to June 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Bucks forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Chester

When
June 26, 11:00 AM EST to June 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Chester forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Delaware

When
June 26, 11:00 AM EST to June 30, 11:59 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, Montgomery

When
June 26, 11:00 AM EST to June 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Philadelphia

When
June 26, 11:00 AM EST to June 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Philadelphia forecast zone
Deaths
2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
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, Philadelphia2001-06-3070FemalePermanent HomeDirect
Heat, Philadelphia2001-06-3058MalePermanent 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 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, June 2001

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: 5253859, 5253860, 5253861, 5253862, 5253863.