UPPER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — The first death to be linked to the extreme heat has been reported in the Lehigh Valley.
Lehigh County Coroner Dan Buglio said a 93-year-old woman from Upper Macugie Township was pronounced dead in her home Thursday.
The cause of death was listed as hyperthermia attributed to “severe heat conditions” within the residence.
Buglio declined to identify the woman Friday morning, allowing time for the family to grieve privately.
He said the woman’s death was “the first heat-related death at this time.”
Investigators in Lehigh County take note of housing conditions, including the operation and location of fans, air conditioning or any type of cooling device, Buglio said in a recent release.
"Ambient air temperatures are documented. An external examination of the decedent is documented and when warranted, a temperature probe of the decedent is recorded,” he said.
The extra steps, along with a thorough and complete death investigation, allow the coroner’s office to state with certainty the death was heat-related, Buglio said.
A record-setting stretch
On the heels of an usually warm June, the Lehigh Valley continued to swelter through the first half of July.
According to data from the Northeast Regional Climate Center, the past two weeks were the second-warmest for the period of record, with an average temperature of 80 degrees.
The same period was the warmest on record for overnight temperatures, with the average low temperature at 69.8 degrees.
Entering Friday, the month-to-date is the second warmest on record with an average temperature of 78 degrees, and the season-to-date is the second warmest at 74.8 degrees.
Ten of the first 17 days of the month reached the 90s, and 18 of the last 35 days overall.
The stretch of heat has been particularly notable for the overnight lows. On July 6, the low temperature recorded at Lehigh Valley International Airport was 77 degrees, breaking the previous record of 74 set in 1999.
Annual minimum temperature trends are increasing in the Lehigh Valley faster than maximum daytime temperatures, Jared Rennie, a research meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told LehighValleyNews.com on Thursday.
