Excessive Heat in Pennsylvania, July 16 to 22, 2008

Name: Excessive Heat in Pennsylvania, July 16 to 22, 2008
Start: 2008-07-16T09:00
End: 2008-07-22T19:00
Location: Pennsylvania

July 16 to 22, 2008 · NWS PHI · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

The longest heat wave of the summer affected eastern Pennsylvania from July 16th through the 22nd. The heat wave ended on the 22nd as thunderstorms kept temperatures below 90 degrees on the 23rd.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 7
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 10

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.

The longest heat wave of the summer affected eastern Pennsylvania from July 16th through the 22nd. The heat wave ended on the 22nd as thunderstorms kept temperatures below 90 degrees on the 23rd. a cold front overnight then brought in drier air. High temperatures were mainly in the lower to mid 90s throughout the heat wave. The hottest days occurred on the 18th, 19th or 20th. The combination of the temperatures and dew points produced apparent temperatures or heat indices of around 100F. There were six heat related deaths in Philadelphia. All of them were in homes that did not have air conditioning.

The excessive heat triggered the Philadelphia Corporate of Aging to run a heat phone line in which they counseled the elderly about precautions to take against the heat and how to detect signs of heat stress. City health department nurses were available to answer questions also. It also triggered an alert to 7000 block captains throughout Philadelphia in urging relatives, neighbors and other voluntary groups to check on the elderly. The city Fire Department increased its emergency medical staffing. The Philadelphia Senior Center in conjunction with Comcast gave away three hundred window fans. In the Philadelphia suburbs, the Chester County Department of Aging Services had fans available for elderly residents requesting them. In Delaware County, a heat information line was also opened and the hours of air-conditioned senior centers were expanded. Because of poor air quality, the Suburban Link offered free rides in Chester and Montgomery Counties.

A 17-year-old boy drowned early on July 23rd after he and three friends jumped from a railroad trestle into the Lehigh River in the Glen Onoko area of the Lehigh Gorge State Park. His body was found about six hours later.

Highest temperatures included 98 degrees at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, 96 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport and Reading (Berks County) and 94 degrees at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, Easton (Northampton County), Pottstown (Montgomery County), West Chester (Chester County) and Doylestown (Bucks 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 Jul 16, 3:40 AM EST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 3:40 AM EST, 5 hours 20 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 16, 2:30 AM EST, 6 hours 30 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

10 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Berks

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Berks forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.416, -75.926 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Bucks

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Bucks forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet

Excessive Heat, Carbon

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Carbon forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.918, -75.709 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Chester

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Chester forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet

Excessive Heat, Delaware

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Lehigh

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Lehigh forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.613, -75.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Monroe

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 41.058, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Montgomery

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet

Excessive Heat, Northampton

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Northampton forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.754, -75.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Philadelphia

When: July 16, 9:00 AM EST to July 22, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Philadelphia forecast zone
Deaths: 6 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Mesonet
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.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Excessive Heat, Carbon	2008-07-23	17	Male	In Water	Indirect
Excessive Heat, Philadelphia	2008-07-19	62	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Excessive Heat, Philadelphia	2008-07-21	67	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Excessive Heat, Philadelphia	2008-07-22	56	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Excessive Heat, Philadelphia	2008-07-22	56	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Excessive Heat, Philadelphia	2008-07-29	78	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Excessive Heat, Philadelphia	2008-07-29	58	Male	Permanent Home	Direct

What these are

Excessive Heat: Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, July 2008

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: 124667, 124668, 124669, 124670, 124671, 124672, 124673, 124674, 124675, 124676.