According to the calendar, autumn’s official start is just a couple of weeks away, but try telling that to Mother Nature.
Following a summer that was cooler than average, temperatures across east central Pennsylvania are finally heating up, just as most pools are closing, beach vacations are ending and many local residents are returning to work and school.
Temperatures were forecast to reach the low 90s Tuesday, and if they do the same Wednesday and Thursday it is possible that the Lehigh Valley will see its first heat wave of 2023–after Labor Day.
The heat combined with high relative humidity has pushed index values as high as 94, which was the 5 p.m. reading at Lehigh Valley International Airport near Allentown.
Low temperatures this week are also forecast to be unseasonably warm, with the mercury only expected to drop to around 70 degrees until Saturday.
Relief from the heat will finally arrive this weekend, when falling temperatures will be accompanied by falling raindrops, according to the latest National Weather Service forecast for the area.
The average high temperature at Allentown in early September is around 81 degrees, and the average low is around 59 degrees, according to NWS weather records.
The temperature reading on an electronic sign outside a Quakertown bank branch Tuesday afternoon was a toasty 90 degrees. Temperatures that are at least 10 degrees above normal are expected for the next few days.