Philly temperatures are forecast to near 100 degrees, again, this week

No rest is in sight for the weary Philadelphians still recovering from the scalding week that led up to the city’s July Fourth festivities. Temperatures this week are expected to near 100 once again.

The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat watch for Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to peak at 99 degrees, accompanied by a heat index of up to 108. Before then, a high of 93 is expected on Tuesday. Temperatures should return back down to 93 on Thursday and settle at 92 on Friday, according to the service’s forecast.

The forecast doesn’t anticipate anything quite as severe as the series of triple-digit days leading to July Fourth, but it will surely be humid, hot, and uncomfortable, said Zack Cooper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office.

Similarly to the early July heat stretch, rain is possible to follow the heat over the weekend, Cooper said.

The city has tallied eight heat-related deaths this year, according to the city health department.

This blanket of heat in the atmosphere “probably won’t be centered” over the Philadelphia area, Cooper said. “What really set the last event apart from this one was that high pressure center being right over the area for a period of a few days where, in this case, it’ll mostly be suppressed down to our south.”

Virginia and West Virginia are anticipated to experience the brunt of this heat spell, he added.

Temperatures this week are unlikely to break records, Cooper said, as the hottest recorded temperature in the Philly area on a July 15 was 103 degrees, set in 1995.

Still, Cooper advised Philadelphians to treat this heat similarly to the early July heat wave — limit time outdoors, dress in lightweight clothing, and check up on neighbors.

“It still will be dangerous heat,” he said.