Sunny and bright in Philadelphia Sunday, temps head back into the 80s this week. Here's the full forecast.
Today is the perfect opportunity to put out the Halloween decorations or make a trip to the pumpkin patch. The morning began sunny and cool, but we warm quickly to the upper 70s. Grab the sunglasses and plan on short sleeves and flip flops this afternoon. This evening also deserves an A+ with clear skies and mild temperatures in the 60s.
Our streak of dry, sunny, warm days will continue this week as temperatures climb into the 80s Monday through Wednesday.
Tuesday we'll be chasing the record high temperature of 83 set 104 years ago in 1920. Alas, the warmth won't last long because a weak cold front will pass through the region Thursday and knock temperatures back to the low and mid 60s. That's nearly a 20 degree drop in from Wednesday's high in the low 80s.
We desperately need rain, but unfortunately Wednesday's cold front brings nothing more than clouds as it passes overhead, leaving us in a race for the longest dry streak in Philadelphia history. The current streak is 29 days set 150 years ago in the fall of 1874. Odds are good that we will break that record.
The increasingly dry conditions have created a moderate drought for most of southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and South Jersey. There is also an expanding area of severe drought in central South Jersey and conditions are likely move to the next level of an extreme drought in the near future.
A drought watch has been issued for all of New Jersey. The last drought watch for the Garden State area was in 2022 and the last drought warning was in 2002.
This month we have seen no rain, and since September 1 we have only had 0.77" of precipitation, leaving us a whopping 5.82" below average for the fall season. It has been 22 days since measurable rain has fallen on the Delaware Valley. If we continue this rainless streak until Monday October 28th we will set a new record for the longest dry stretch in Philadelphia history.
These dry conditions coupled with unseasonably warm temperatures and low humidity have also created an elevated fire danger across the area. Residents are urged to limit the use of any outdoor flames.
In the tropics things have gotten busy once again. Once Tropical Storm Nadine has been downgraded to a Tropical Depression as it crosses southern Mexico from the Bay of Campeche to the Pacific Ocean.
Hurricane Oscar is expected to make landfall along the southeast coast of Cuba today near Guantanamo Bay as a Category 1 storm. From there it will curve to the northeast and head into the Atlantic toward Turks and Caicos and Bahamas. At this point neither storm is expected to affect the United States.
Here's your 7-day forecast:
Sunday: Beautiful. High 77
Monday: Big warm-up. High 81, Low 47
Tuesday: Chasing records. High 83, Low 53
Wednesday: Few high clouds. High 80, Low 52
Thursday: Big cool down. High 65, Low 57
Friday: Cooler, sunny. High 63, Low 43
Saturday: Sunny skies. High 67, Low 42