Pennsylvania, 2006

Heat in Pennsylvania, July 16 to 18, 2006

July 16 to 18, 2006 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

A heat wave that brought high temperatures well into the 90s and record utility usage claimed the lives of three people in Philadelphia. The high temperature at the Philadelphia International Airport on the 17th and 18th was 98 degrees.

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

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The toll

Deaths
3
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 heat wave that brought high temperatures well into the 90s and record utility usage claimed the lives of three people in Philadelphia. The high temperature at the Philadelphia International Airport on the 17th and 18th was 98 degrees.

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 Jul 16, 3:00 AM EST, 6 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 3:00 AM EST, 6 hours before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 16, 4:00 AM EST, 5 hours before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 16, 3:11 AM EST, 5 hours 49 minutes before
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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
July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 18, 8:00 PM EST
Where
Bucks forecast zone
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL

Heat, Chester

When
July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 18, 8:00 PM EST
Where
Chester forecast zone
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL

Heat, Delaware

When
July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 18, 8:00 PM EST
Where
Delaware forecast zone
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Montgomery

When
July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 18, 8:00 PM EST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL

Heat, Philadelphia

When
July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 18, 8:00 PM EST
Where
Philadelphia forecast zone
Deaths
3 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
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, Philadelphia2006-07-1850FemalePermanent HomeDirect
Heat, Philadelphia2006-07-1660FemalePermanent HomeDirect
Heat, Philadelphia2006-07-1965FemalePermanent 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 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, July 2006

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: 5529609, 5529610, 5529611, 5529612, 5529613.