'Excessively' hot weekend in store

An excessive heat watch has been issued for the Philadelphia area for the weekend.

The National Weather Service said the watch is for the period from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon when the highs will be in the mid to upper 90s with heat index values of up to 105 degrees.

There will be little relief at the Shore as winds will be coming mostly from mainland.

The NWS said the watch could be extended as get closer to the weekend.

The high for Thursday will be about 90 degrees and maximum tempertures of 90 and above are forecast through next Wednesday.

Under an excessive heat watch, the potential for heat related health issues is high for the elderly and those in poor health.

Watches tend to be elevated to warnings as the event draws near.

Amtrak in the meantime is advising passengers that high temperatures could result in a slowdown of service under existing regulations.

"In a nutshell those are rules that require our trains to slow down when the track temperatures reach a certain level" on the tracks, Amtrak said in a statement.

SEPTA has similar heat restrictions for both overheated tracks and power lines sagging due to the heat.