Pocono weather: High temps and higher heat index values in forecast

Kathryne Rubright, Pocono Record
·2 min read
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This week's weather will heat up the Poconos, with the highest temperatures expected Friday.

“Although tweaks to the forecast are likely, a few spots may come close to setting records,” the Philadelphia/Mount Holly National Weather Service office reported on its social media accounts.

The weather service added that high humidity will create heat index values — measures of how hot it actually feels — above 100 degrees Friday in parts of its forecast area. At 92 degrees, Mount Pocono is at the low end, but the NWS expects it to feel like 103 in Allentown and 102 in Morristown, New Jersey.

The heat wave will come after a cooler-than-average June. Stroudsburg averaged 63.3 degrees, 4.4 degrees below normal, according to meteorologist and Pocono weather expert Ben Gelber.

“Extremes during the month ranged from a high of 93 degrees on June 2 to a record-tying low of 36 on June 9,” Gelber said.

“A combination of a persistent dip, or trough, in the jet stream in the Northeast and periods of wildfire smoke, along with considerable cloud cover and persistent rain in the latter half of the month, all contributed to a rather cool beginning of the Pocono summer,” he explained.

July is averaging 73.5 degrees so far, Gelber said Monday, or one degree above normal.

Of interest: Death Valley's scalding temperatures draw visitors: What does 128 degrees feel like?

“I expect highs in the low- to mid-90s Wednesday through Friday in the lower elevations, which qualifies as a heat wave (at least three consecutive days in the 90s)."

Gelber said it's unlikely ― though possible ― there will be record-setting heat. The July 26 record is 97 (1966), July 27 is 100 (1955) and July 28 is 98 (1949). "With a good deal of sunshine, we could be close on Wednesday and Friday,” he said.

Higher-elevation Mount Pocono’s July 28 record is 93, also set in 1949. But as of Monday afternoon, the weather service forecast for Friday was a high of 87.

For the latest forecast and radar images for your ZIP code, visit and bookmark poconorecord.com/weather. For local weather data since 1895, severe weather alerts, power outage reports and more data reporting, visit and bookmark data.poconorecord.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Heat wave coming, but Poconos unlikely to set record highs