Wednesday in Philadelphia will be in the upper 70s as the region could see record highs this week
Wednesday morning starts off mild in the Philadelphia region, with temperatures in the mid-50s before a clear sky with plenty of sunshine warms us up.
The high temperature will be back into the upper 70s. It's not a record, but closer to it than seasonal temps.
The normal high on Wednesday is 62 degrees, while the record is 81, which was set in 1946.
The warmth sticks around for Halloween, where we'll make a run at a record-breaking high temperature.
It will feel more like summer than fall the last day of October on Thursday as we will be chasing a record high of 82 set in 1946. That 82-degree record is the ONLY time Philadelphia has seen a high temperature in the 80s on Halloween since record-keeping began more than 150 years ago.
You might want to bring some cold water for any trick-or-treaters with heavier costumes who might be feeling the warmth. It will be a hauntingly hot 79 degrees in the city at 4 p.m. when you might start seeing some early visitors – we're down to 75 by 6 p.m.
That warm air will be ahead of a cold front set to sweep through on Friday, which will bring the chance for some much-needed rainfall. Though it doesn't look like enough to put a dent in the drought, it may put an end to this historic dry streak. In addition, it will drop the temps back down in the 70s on Friday then low 60s on Saturday.
Beyond that, the lack of rain remains the top headline in weather for the region. Much of the area is now under a moderate to severe drought, which will likely be elevated to extreme drought for parts of the area next week when the next update arrives. It's likely that October 2024 will go down in the record books as the driest month EVER in Philadelphia history since records were started in the 1870s.
Currently, our driest month is October 1924 with 0.09 inches of rain. This month, we have only had a trace and it doesn't look like we'll see much, if any, more.
This weekend also brings the end of Daylight Saving Time! Set those clocks back an hour before you head to bed Saturday night. While "fall back" is generally thought to provide an extra hour of sleep, it also means the sunset time on Sunday will be at 4:55 p.m., and it will stay in the 4 o'clock hour until Jan. 15.
Little nugget of info — since summer began a little more than four months ago, we've lost nearly five hours of daylight!
Here's your 7-day forecast:
Wednesday: Mild, some sun, high of 78, low of 50
Thursday: Halloween heat, high of 82, low of 59
Friday: AM showers? High of 77, low of 68
Saturday: Sunny and cooler, high of 60, low of 45
Sunday: Sunny, high of 63, low of 38
Monday: Sunny skies, high of 69, low of 49
Tuesday: Clouds, some sun, high of 75, low of 57