Penn sent a university-wide notification on June 22 warning people about potential dangerous conditions caused by the heat wave hitting the Northeast.
Credit: Jackson Ford
University administrators advised the Penn community in a Sunday email to take precautions due to forecasts of Philadelphia temperatures reaching triple digits.
In the June 22 email, Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, Provost John Jackson, and Vice President for Human Resources Felicia Washington urged the Penn community to “find a cool place for relief” from the severe heat conditions and conserve energy on campus. The warning followed an extreme heat watch issued by the National Weather Service until Wednesday evening and a Heat Health Emergency issued by the City of Philadelphia.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also posted a “code orange” air-quality alert for Monday, advising people with respiratory and heart conditions to limit time outdoors.
“Temperatures are expected to rise above 100 degrees, with humidity pushing the heat index even higher. These conditions can create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are possible. We urge the Penn community to follow these safety tips,” the administrators wrote in the email.
The University-wide email advised the Penn community to stay in indoor, air-conditioned environments, increase their water intake, wear light and loose garments, eliminate strenuous physical activity, and avoid heavy meals to avoid heat illnesses.
The email also noted the “extra demand” on Penn’s cooling systems due to the heat wave and the consequential implementation of an energy conservation plan across all campus buildings. Some research buildings are “sensitive to extreme shifts in temperature,” and they are “monitoring and managing” those conditions accordingly.
In other areas, the email advised members of the Penn community to turn off overhead lighting, turn up or shut off the thermostat in unoccupied spaces, “close window blinds and shades,” and “keep windows and doors closed.”
NWS last issued an extreme heat watch for the Philadelphia region in July 2024, when temperatures reached up to 98 degrees. The expected temperatures of over 100 degrees this week would break Philadelphia’s 13-year record of maintaining temperatures below three digits.
This heat wave has swept across the Midwest and Northeast, with extreme heat warnings being issued for 75 million people in nearly a dozen major cities near Philadelphia, including New York City, Washington D.C, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, and Boston.
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