Philadelphia weather: Severe thunderstorm warning issued as end of heat emergency nears

PHILADELPHIA - The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, NJ has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester counties along with Gloucester, Salem and Camden, Burlington counties in New Jersey and New Castle County in Delaware.

The warning was originally issued to end 6:45 p.m. Sunday but was pushed back for several counties in New Jersey specifically those located on the coast to 12:30 a.m. Monday.

Wind gusts have reached 60 mph accompanied by penny-sized hail.

Damage to roofs, siding, trees, and power lines is possible according to the NWS.

For your protection, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. In addition to large hail and damaging winds, frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Move indoors immediately. Remember, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to get struck by lightning.

In addition to the severe storm warning, Philadelphia has been under a declared Heat Health Emergency since 8 a.m. on Thursday, June 20, 2024.

The Heat Health Emergency will end at midnight, 11:59 p.m on Sunday, June 23, 2024.

"While we are still in a heat emergency today in Philadelphia, I do want to thank all the city workers in all the agencies that have worked tirelessly this last week to help keep our residents safe and cool during these extremely high temperature days," said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in a press release. "We're not out of the heat emergency just yet, so please, stay cool, keep hydrated, take advantage of city resources like swimming pools and neighborhood cooling centers. And keep checking in on your neighbors."