It's going to feel like 104 degrees Sunday. And though the actual temperature will be lower, it could break a record.
Kyle Elliott, weather information director at Millersville University, said that this weekend will feature the hottest weather of the summer so far, with mostly sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid 90s on Saturday and the upper 90s on Sunday. The heat index, a measure of what the human body experiences when humidity is combined with the air temperature, could top 104 Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in State College.
Sunday might also break a century-old record, Elliott said. The record high for July 24 in Lancaster County is 98 degrees, recorded in 1918 in Millersville. The record high for Sunday at Harrisburg International Airport in Middletown, Dauphin County, is 96 degrees from 2001 and has an even better chance of being broken, he said.
“Whether or not we fall one degree shy of, tie the record, or break it is going to be a close call and will depend on how much sunshine we see,” Elliott said.
As we enter what may end up being the hottest week of the year, Elliott shared some safety tips:
- Never leave pets or children unattended in vehicles. It only takes 30 minutes for a car's internal temperature to reach 130°F when the air temperature is 95°F, and the dashboard temperature will be 25-30 degrees higher.
- Wear lightweight clothing. Drink plenty of water. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
- Most importantly, take a break once in a while and get some shade or air-conditioning.
"The 'dog days' of summer are going to be no joke this year," wrote Elliott on Millersville University's Weather Information Center website.
"So far, our only heat wave of the year occurred in late May, and high temperatures only reached the low-to-mid 90s for three consecutive days," he wrote. "The impending heat wave will be twice as long and feature both higher daytime and nighttime temperatures, making it much more dangerous.”
