Record heat possible on Halloween in Philadelphia as dry spell continues

It will feel more summer than the last day of October On Thursday we will target a record high of 82 degrees set in 1946. That record of 82 degrees is the ONLY time Philadelphia has seen a high temperature in the 80s on Halloween since record keeping began more than 150 years ago.

That warm air will have a head start on a cold front that will pass through Friday, bringing the chance of much-needed rainfall. While this doesn’t seem like enough to make a dent in the drought, it could end this historic dry spell. Additionally, temperatures will dip back into the 70s on Friday and low 60s on Saturday.

In addition, the lack of rain remains the most important weather forecast for the region. Much of the area is now experiencing a moderate to severe drought, which is likely to be elevated to extreme drought for parts of the area with the next update next week.

It is likely that October 2024 will go down in the record books as the driest month in Philadelphia history since records began in the 1870s. Currently, our driest month is October 1924 with only 0.09 inches of rain. This month we only found a trace of it and it doesn’t look like we’ll see much more.

If the showers break up on Friday before measurable rain comes to the area, we will maintain that dry trajectory. No rain is expected this weekend or next week, and we’ll warm back into the 70s for Election Day.

This weekend also marks the end of summer time! Set the clock back an hour before you go to bed on Saturday evening. While ‘falling back’ is generally thought to provide an extra hour of sleep, it also means that sunset on Sunday will be at 4:55pm, and will remain in the 4am hour until January 15th.

Small tidbit of information: Since summer started just over four months ago, we’ve lost almost five hours of daylight!

Here’s your seven-day forecast:

Thursday: Halloween heat, high of 82, low of 59

Friday: Chance of showers, high at 79, low at 67

Saturday: Fresh and cool, high of 63, low of 47

Sunday: Sunny and cool, high 63, low 40

Monday: Partly sunny, high 69, low 47

Tuesday: Hot for the voters, high at 76, low at 57

Wednesday: Clouds, some sun, high 79, low 64

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