July Snow Recorded At Philadelphia Airport During A Heat Wave

A US Airways and a British Airways plane sit on the tarmac at Philadelphia International Airport February 17, 2003 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All flights into and out of the airport were cancelled due to the severe winter storm Photo: Don Murray (Getty Images)

The National Weather Service recorded an interesting weather pattern over the weekend at Philadelphia International Airport; trace amounts of snow, in the middle of a heatwave in July.

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When you’re flying, it is best to be prepared for anything; flight delays, motion sickness, blazing hot or frigid fuselages, but snow in the middle of July? That’s not something anyone thinks about but, according to the National Weather Service, it’s not as rare as you’d think, Fox 43 explains:

Thunderstorms moving through the area produced small hail, which counts as a “trace” of snow in NWS’s climate reports since hail is frozen precipitation.

The Weather Service says that while this phenomenon is rare, it is not unheard of. There has been a daily record snowfall during the summer months (June – August) 14 times since 1911:

July 14, 2024August 18, 2011August 1, 2011July 23, 2008July 18, 2006June 26, 1998June 9, 1993June 27, 1951August 17, 1939August 19, 1919July 13, 1919August 3, 1914July 24, 1913June 20, 1911

This weekend’s snow actually broke a record set in 1870! Look, I’ve lived in a snowy state my whole life, and there is a noticeable difference between snow and teeny tiny hail, but it’s close enough to make no difference to the National Weather Service, I guess.

The rough and weird weather didn’t hinder passengers too much, as there are no reports of flight cancelations or delays. Travelers got lucky; just last month a similar line of bad storms led to over 400 flights being canceled, according to CBS News.

Weather is getting wilder for air travel, but it’s not freak snow storms posing the biggest problems. Hot air is increasing the frequency of violent turbulence, as well as making it almost impossible to keep fuselages cool while on the ground. The hot air is also proving a problem for helicopters, which can’t move through the air in higher temperatures.