Heat record falls
Philadelphia setting a daily record for the warmest low temperature.
The lowest temperature at Philadelphia Internatiional Airport we've seen since midnight is 81, and the city is almost certain to set a daily record, this one for the highest minimum temperature for a July 16.
The old standard for a July 16 is 77, and the forecast calls for the temperatures to stay toasty after dark, falling no lower than 80 by midnight.
As our story pointed out today, the afternoon records probably are out of reach. The record highs are 100-plus through Friday, and 99 Saturday.
But the overnight-warmth records will be challenged each day, and that is a particular danger to the live-alone population in rowhouse neighborhoods.
Believe it or not, this afternoon is going to be subtly more comfortable than yesterday thanks to a pulse of drier air. Savor it.
"Every day gets a little worse," said Tony Gigi at the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly. "It gets worse on Friday. Saturday looks miserable."
This probably will become one of the longest stretches of 95-plus days in the period of record.
No. 1 is the eight straight days of 95-plus in the deadly summer of 1993, during which 118 heat-related deaths were reported in Philadelphia.
This will be Day Two, and 95 is in play through Friday, with possibly Saturday. A five-day run of 95-plus would be the fifth-longest such streak on record, Gigi said.