A odd temperature record for Philadelphia was apparently set Friday when temperatures remained above 80 degrees from midnight to midnight.
Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, became the first September day on record where the temperature stayed above 80 degrees for the entire 24-hour period. Meteorologists and weather nerds first became aware of the possibility for the weather oddity early Friday evening.
At 5 p.m., the National Weather Service in Mount Holly had predicted a steady fall in the temperature between then and midnight. And on cue, the temperature did fall, but at midnight, it was still 82 degrees, the NWS said in its three-day, hour-by-hour history.
At 2:54 a.m. Saturday morning, the temperature finally dipped below 80 - to 79 degrees, the NWS chart shows.
Actually, according to the NWS, the temperature in Philadelphia remained above 80 degrees for 41 straight hours, from 8:54 a.m. Thursday through 1:54 a.m. Saturday.
One of Pennsylvania's notable weathermen, Steve Seman of Penn State's Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science even came up with a hashtag. On Friday evening, he and others said a thunderstorm rolling through the city seemed like the only variable standing in the way of all 80s over the next seven hours.
And as the Washington Post points out, nearby cities similarly felt the heat.
Friday was also the hottest Sept. 9 on record, peaking at 96 degrees in the afternoon.
