A South Philadelphia babysitter, originally from Argentina, was released from ICE detention Monday after being arrested at Philadelphia International Airport last month.
Iliana Lick’s arrest made national headlines as the Trump administration steps up efforts to increase immigration enforcement at American airports.
Lick, 30, had been in Philadelphia since September 2024. She had a valid work authorization and a pending asylum application, but had overstayed her visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security. She was arrested as she headed to Kansas City to watch Argentina play in the World Cup, transported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico instead.
“After nearly a month in custody, countless phone calls, legal proceedings, and several transfers across different states, this is a moment we have been praying and hoping for,” her boyfriend, Steven Melchiorre, 35, wrote in an update to supporters on Facebook and a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $18,000 for legal fees.
Though Lick’s release is a victory, the fight to stay in the country is far from over.
As a condition of her release on $10,000 bond, Lick had to surrender her passport and has to wear an ankle monitor.
Immigration advocates keeping track of those being arrested at the Philadelphia airport have said at least 10 people have been detained since mid-July. Of those, Lick is only the second to be released from custody.
Immigration advocate Vivian Chang, executive director of Asian Americans United, said the release of people arrested by ICE, whether at airports or during immigration check-ins, can be a crapshoot.
“You need like a CNN story and so many news articles, so much fundraising, all of that,” Chang said. “The vast majority of people can’t access that. They don’t get coverage, and that’s what the Trump administration is counting on.”
The Inquirer wrote about Lick’s case, and her story was most recently featured on CNN.
For its part, the Department of Homeland Security has said it is making sure undocumented immigrants are flying only to self-deport, offering them a $2,600 payment and a free flight home as an alternative to detention.
A New York Times report found instances of immigration arrests in at least 15 airports, with many of the cases getting follow-ups in local media markets.
Britni Zahodnick, who with her husband, Zane Schultz, has employed Lick as a babysitter for their two young children, ages 4 and 1, for more than a year, said she is grateful for the media attention.
When Zahodnick first learned of the arrest, she said, she was not seeing people talking about the issue on social media platforms. That changed in recent weeks.
In Philadelphia, people have rallied behind Lick, she said.
Donations have helped her to retain counsel, post bond, and pay fortransportation back to her South Philly home.
Zahodnick hopes attention to cases like Lick’s highlights how immigration enforcement is affecting people who have deep roots within their communities.
“A lot of the campaigning on this increased enforcement of immigration was really around criminals, and it just hasn’t panned out that way,” she said.
Immigration advocates say at least 10 people have been arrested by ICE at Philadelphia International Airport since July 12, including a 68-year-old grandmother and the young babysitter of three children.
That comes amid a nationwide push by the Trump administration to increase arrests at American airports, spurring immigration attorneys to warn noncitizens with limited documentation that travel has become risky, including for those with valid work permits or pending applications for relief.
“People might not think Philly is being targeted, but we are,” said Vivian Chang, executive director of Asian Americans United, an advocacy group. “They’re trying to threaten people, trying to intimidate them — you can’t work freely, you can’t travel freely, you can’t fly.”
She said the arrests in Philadelphia include three people originally from Indonesia and others from India, Ukraine, China, Chile, and Argentina. Another person, a religious leader, was briefly taken into custody and released, she said.
Chang described the arrests in Philadelphia as especially troubling because the airport is owned and operated by the city.
She questioned why that property would not be subject to Philadelphia’s recent “ICE Out” legislation, which bars U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting operations on city-owned lands and bans access to city-owned spaces, absent a judicial warrant.
Steve Papelian, 73, drove more than an hour from Nazareth, Pa. to the Philadelphia International Airport to protest the deployment of ICE agents to international airports across the U.S. on March 24. The former school teacher believes that ICE should target criminal activity, not “moms and pops with kids,” he said.Henry Savage / Staff
Sam Scavuzzo, chief of staff for the city law department, said in a statement that “federal law enforcement access to particular areas of the airport is governed by federal law.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said airport arrests are occurring because the Trump administration “reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country.”
“Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this. This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
The department said “being in detention is a choice,” and the federal government is offering people who are here without permission a $2,600 payment and a free flight home.
Self-deportation can preserve the right to later come back to the U.S., absent the penalties that accompany a government deportation.
DHS said people who do not leave voluntarily “will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
On July 11, what started out as a fun soccer trip for a South Philadelphia babysitter ended with her being arrested and ultimately moved across the country to an ICE detention center in New Mexico.
Steven Melchiorre, 35, a health worker, said that at 7 a.m. that day he dropped off his girlfriend, Iliana Lick, 30, to fly to Kansas City. Originally from Buenos Aires, she planned to see the Argentina national team play in the World Cup.
On July 11, what started out as a fun soccer trip for a Philadelphia babysitter ended with her being arrested and ultimately moved across the country to an ICE detention center in New Mexico. Iliana Lick legally entered the U.S. in 2023, though her visa later expired. She cares for the children of two South Philadelphia families.Courtesy of Steven Melchiorre
She texted Melchiorre from inside the airport to say the line was short, then did not answer his reply.
After a while, he said, Lick phoned, crying, to say she had been arrested by ICE. She was moved from Philadelphia to the Cambria County prison, which holds prisoners for the agency in south-central Pennsylvania, and in the following days was transferred to ICE facilities in Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico.
Late Friday afternoon, an immigration judge in New Mexico set bond for Lick at $10,000, according to her boyfriend. He immediately began working to post that bond and bring her home. It was not clear how quickly Lick might be released.
DHS said Lick was arrested during a targeted operation, having overstayed her visa.
The department noted that work authorization or a pending application for immigration relief, both of which Lick has, do not confer legal status to be in the United States.
ICE began to deploy agents at U.S. airports in March, and the move was announced as a way to assist at checkpoint lines during a partial government shutdown.
The deployment quickly proved controversial, as travelers and labor unions objected, saying the agents were intimidating and lacked aviation training.
A group of federal immigration officers walk through O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on March 23, 2026. From large cities like Chicago and Las Vegas to small suburbs outside Milwaukee and San Antonio, immigrants have been picked up and detained at courthouses, ICE check-ins and traffic stops, with daily arrests doubling in the last week of June and continuing to climb.JAMIE KELTER DAVIS
Airports rank among the most sensitive public spaces in the country, traversed by millions of people, including U.S. citizens, noncitizens, and mixed-status families, California immigration lawyer Andrew Neitor wrote for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, a legal group.
The introduction of ICE agents, he said, blurs critical lines between airport security and immigration enforcement, around what authority is being exercised and by whom, and over the legal protections due to people who may be arrested.
“ICE was not intended to be omnipresent in daily civic life,” Neitor said. “Yet its footprint has expanded from courthouses to neighborhoods, workplaces, and even parking lots, shifting from targeted enforcement to visible, normalized presence.”
Last year, the Transportation Security Administration and ICE signed a memorandum of agreement that outlined how ICE would share information with TSA to identify people in whom ICE was interested, according to the memo, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the watchdog group American Oversight. The agreement said sharing the data would enhance national security, transportation safety, and immigration management.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan introduced a bill, the No TSA Data for ICE Act, that would bar the agencies from coordinating to conduct what her office called “a dramatic violation of privacy rights.”
The bill would ban TSA from sharing passenger names, birth dates, and other data that enable ICE to target immigrants who are in the process of changing status, including those awaiting visa extensions or who recently married U.S. citizens.
“TSA is readily offering up our immigrant residents to suffer at the hands of ICE agents so they can fulfill their daily arrest quota,” Tlaib said in a statement. “Immigrants should be able to safely fly in this country without the fear of arrest or deportation.”
Today ICE is making record numbers of arrests across the country, not only at airports but also at places that were once considered off-limits, including routine immigration check-ins.
A hat belonging to Iliana Lick sits on a table in the home she shares with her partner, Steven Melchiorre, in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Philadelphia on Tuesday, Aug. 4. Lick has remained in ICE custody since her detention at Philadelphia International Airport on July 11, 2026.Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer
In June in Philadelphia, a 36-year-old survivor of slavery who had fled Mauritania, a mostly desert land in West Africa, filed suit in federal court over the issue. He accused ICE of having unlawfully rescinded a policy that generally allowed immigrants to pursue their cases without fear of arrest.
Nationally, the rate of ICE arrests topped 1,300 a day in June, and grew again to a record 1,474 a day during the first 11 days of July, Syracuse University professor and immigration-data analyst Austin Kocher reported.
Some of those being arrested at airports had legally entered the United States, then stayed after their visas expired. That includes some, like Lick, who were seeking to legally change their immigration status while in the U.S.
Lick, now of Point Breeze, legally entered the country in 2023. She held and extended a visa, and holds work authorization and a REAL ID driver’s license, her boyfriend said. She was trying to adjust her status before her visa expired and continued to do so afterward, Melchiorre said.
Lick works taking care of three children for two South Philadelphia families.
Britni Zahodnick and her husband, Zane Schultz, have employed Lick as a babysitter for their two young children, ages 4 and 1, for more than a year. They described her as soft-spoken, kind, attentive, funny, thoughtful, and a good listener.
“She was very quickly thought of as family,” Schultz said.
Trust does not come easily for any parent preparing to place their children in another’s hands, but Lick won theirs, the couple said.
“All the things you would look for in a caretaker for your kids,” Zahodnick said.
Illiana Lick with partner Steven Melchiorre in New York City. On July 11, what started out as a fun soccer trip for a Philadelphia babysitter ended with her being arrested and ultimately moved across the country to an ICE detention center in New Mexico. Iliana Lick legally entered the U.S. in 2023, though her visa later expired. She cares for the children of two South Philadelphia families.Courtesy of Steven Melchiorre
Melchiorre acknowledged that ICE had legal authority to detain Lick. He said people should follow immigration laws — but the couple thought Lick was doing so. They did not know domestic flights were in question, having flown in the past without incident.
Melchiorre said he was surprised and frustrated by her arrest, “because Iliana has not committed any crime, hasn’t missed any fees, hasn’t missed any court dates. She wasn’t trying to dodge immigration. Being detained, it’s similar to how criminals are treated.”
With over a half-foot of rain measured already, what has been Philadelphia’s wettest month since March 2024 is very likely to become significantly wetter.
The National Weather Service has posted a flash flood watch effective from 8 a.m. Tuesday until 2 p.m. Wednesday for rain totals up to 3 inches, with downpours of 1 to 2 inches an hour possible.
The national Storm Prediction Center on Tuesday morning listed a 15% chance of severe storms, those with wind gusts approaching 60 mph, for the entire region, with an outside shot of tornadoes. The Weather Prediction Center has a 40% chance of flooding downpours.
Some appetizers — localized downpours — popped up Monday afternoon, prompting flood warnings for Philly and neighboring sections of Montgomery County, and parts of Gloucester and Atlantic Counties in New Jersey.
Floodwaters swamped downtown Hammonton, Atlantic County, with “numerous” cars stranded on the roads, the weather service reported. The Pennypack Creek in Northeast Philly crested above “minor” flood stage.
Moth-ball-size hail pelted Chestnut Hill, and hail twice that size was sighted in Williamstown, Gloucester County, and in the vicinity of Washington Crossing State Park on the Jersey side of the Delaware River.
Storm coverage on Tuesday is expected to be far more extensive, and potentially more disruptive, with a “few tornadoes” possible, the weather service warned.
Storm activity is likely to linger into Wednesday, said Mike Lee, meteorologist in the weather service’s Mount Holly office, with more showers in the forecasts for Thursday.
What time the storms will arrive in Philly
Late July still is very much the lottery-ball season for damaging downpours, and that again likely will be very much in evidence this week. Rainfall totals in the last 30 days have ranged from 137% of normal in Gloucester County to 79% of normal in Montgomery County, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.
Thunderstorms are possible as early as midmorning, but expect “repeated rounds” during the afternoon, said Matt Benz, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
The highest probability for severe storms, those with wind gusts near 60 mph, would be in South Jersey and Delaware, although they could nose into Philly, said the weather service’s Lee.
The storms could continue well into the night, and additional rains are expected Wednesday afternoon.
The rain totals again are likely to vary widely; however, a general 1 to 2 inches is expected across the region.
Whatever happened to the drought?
It hasn’t gone anywhere — yet.
All of New Jersey and Chester County remain under state-declared drought warnings. In the latest interagency U.S. Drought Monitor update, conditions in the entire region remain from “abnormally dry” to severe drought.
All that may change by week’s end.
Through Sunday, officially 6.37 inches of rain habr been measured at Philadelphia International Airport this month. That is the highest monthly precipitation total since March 2024.
July’s rains have ended a run of 16 straight months of below-normal precipitation in Philly.
Said Benz: “It’s an old saying that all droughts end on a flood. That’s kind of what we’re seeing right now.”
Philly travelers will soon be able to take a one-hour flight to the Baltimore area.
Southwest Airlines’ new route between Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) is part of the airline’s recent service expansion, which will also add a flight between Philadelphia and Las Vegas. Both new offerings begin March 11 next year.
The new flight to BWI will allow Philadelphians to unlock “most of the Southwest network with one-stop service,” said airline spokesperson, Chris Perry, via email, who added that Southwest flights are operated on Boeing 737 aircrafts. Southwest operates more than 70% of flights out of the Baltimore-area airport, which makes it the airport’s top airline by market share. At PHL, it is fourth.
American Airlines and Frontier Airlines already have scheduled flights to Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas out of PHL, but no airline currently flies between PHL and BWI, airport spokesperson Heather Redfern said via email on Tuesday.
“PHL is thrilled to be part of Southwest’s latest route network expansion,” said Redfern.
The flight to BWI will be offered twice daily, while the route to Las Vegas will operate on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Friday.
A United Airlines plane arrives at a gate while a Southwest airplane takes off in the background at Philadelphia International Airpot on Saturday, March 22, 2025.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The route between PHL and Baltimore was previously served by American / U.S. Airways throughout the 2000s and 2010s, but was discontinued in July 2020, said Redfern.
A roundtrip direct flight between BWI and Philadelphia will cost travelers roughly $343, including taxes and fees, for a basic ticket departing Friday, March 12 and returning Sunday, March 14.
A roundtrip flight on those same days between Philadelphia and Las Vegas will cost a traveler roughly $578 for a basic ticket, including taxes and fees.
Southwest carried over 1.3 million passengers through Philadelphia’s airport in 2025. The largest airline operating out of PHL, American Airlines, transported over 20 million passengers through the airport that year.
The polluted campfire-like vaporfrom Canadian wildfires plummeted air quality Thursday, lowered visibility enough that flights were delayed at Philadelphia International Airport, and prompted cancellation of a concert at Cooper River Park in Camden County.The Phillies moved Thursday night’s game up one hour due to air quality concerns.
The smoke, which was expected to blanket the region at least through Friday, originated from fires burning in Western Ontario, said Sarah Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office.
It was swept in by winds that mixed to keep it closer to the ground.
“It’s just a factor of the winds at all levels kind of working together,” Johnson explained.
It is difficult to pinpoint when the air quality might return to normal, she said. Those forecasts come from state environmental protection departments and are usually no more than 48 hours out.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a Code Purple Air Quality Alert for Friday. Code purple signifies very unhealthy air, meaning people should avoid long or intense outdoor activities, and sensitive groups should avoid all outdoor activities. The department suggested not using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment, and avoiding the burning of leaves or trash.
Rain forecast for Saturday could help suppress the smoke, Johnson said, but on Thursday afternoon it was too early to be sure.
Poor air quality caused by the fires remained the biggest issue as they burned through forests and buildings before their smoke swept south, collecting ambient pollution from Boston, New York, and other areas before reaching Philadelphia.
Philadelphia issued a Code Red Air Quality Caution Day on Thursday, meaning some people were at risk of experiencing health effects, including elevated risks forpeople with heart or lung disease, asthma, older adults, children, pregnant people, immunocompromised people, people experiencing homelessness, people who use drugs, people without access to air filtration, and outdoor workers.
The city advised people to limit their time outdoors and consider rescheduling activities.
“Today is not the day to start your marathon training plan,” Palak Raval-Nelson, commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said in a statement.
Penn State graduate student Ray Boone waits for the bus with a face mask on because of the air quality, on Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 17th Street and JFK Boulevard in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide Code Red air quality day due to Canadian wildfire smoke blowing into the Philadelphia region.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
High temps increase risks
The smoke affected thousands of square miles in the region, from the Poconos to the Shore through Delaware.
The Air Quality Index, or AQI, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was in the unhealthy range for all of the region as of 4 p.m. Thursday. The index ranges from 0 to 500. Unhealthy is from 151 to 200.
Censors in Centre County, Pa., recorded a hazardous AQI of 345 by Thursday afternoon, the highest and most dangerous level. Other sensors in Lycoming and Bradford Counties recorded AQIs above 200, or very unhealthy.
Not helping: Temperatures in the 90s with humidity so high that it made it feel in excess of 100 degrees.
Julie and Bill Guise, 66 and 72, respectively, basked in the somewhat cool breeze billowing from a giant fan inside the President’s House complex at Independence National Historical Park, hoping to get relief from the oppressive air. The Flagstaff, Ariz., residents, however, were unaware of what exactly was causing it.
“We couldn’t figure out what it was,” Bill Guise said of the haze in the atmosphere.
But it did not change their plans. The couple are used to wildfires.
“It’s much worse out West,” Julie Guise added, likening the western smoke, when it’s extra bad, to sitting next to a campfire.
Eric Balaban, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Temple University, was hesitant but still went running Thursday morning.
“If I didn’t have an addiction to running, I would not have gone. And I would recommend other people not to run. Do as I say, not as I do,” he said with a laugh.
But exposure to the smoke is a serious matter, Balaban said. He noted that the smoke that travels “carries a uniquely toxic profile that poses severe health risks to both healthy individuals and vulnerable populations.”
Ruth McDermott-Levy, a professor at Villanova University’s school of nursing, said that air quality had become a risk not only for those already suffering from health issues, but for everyone.
“All of us are at risk,” McDermott-Levy said. “Certainly there are groups of people at greater risk, from pregnant women, children, older people, and those with cardiac and respiratory illnesses. But we’re at an unhealthy level for everyone.”
The Philadelphia Museum of Art behind a smokey haze on Thursday, July 16, 2026 in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide Code Red air quality day due to Canadian wildfire smoke blowing into the Philadelphia region.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
What’s in the air?
The two major pollutants of concern are ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter known as PM2.5.
Ground-level ozone is a pollutant that forms when nitrogen oxides and volatile organics emitted by vehicles, power plants, and industry react in sunlight, especially during hot days. It can cause airways to constrict, leading to shortness of breath. It can especially affect those with asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
Fine particulate matter is so small that it can cross from the lungs directly into the bloodstream, bringing a body-wide exposure that can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, in addition to causing acute chest tightness, shortness of breath, and dizziness in otherwise healthy people.
The sun sets in a hazy sky over the Pennsylvania Turnpike Wednesday, July 15, 2026 as the Canadian and Great Lakes wildfire smoke moves into the region’ This at the Highspire Service Plaza], eastbound near Middletown.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Staff writer Nate File contributed to this article.
A new airport lounge is landing soon in Philadelphia.
Escape Lounges is set to open a location at the Philadelphia International Airport later this year, according to MarketPlace PHL, which manages the airport’s concessions. The lounges run on a pay-per-visit model, with food and drink included, and do not require customers to have a certain credit card.
Escape’s 1,500-square-foot space in Terminal D will serve food and drinks, according to MarketPlace PHL, and include a bar and other seating areas that overlook the runways.
The U.K.-based Escape Lounges operates 20 U.S. locations, including Syracuse and Providence, R.I. The lounges are open to all travelers within three hours of their departing flights, according to the company’s website.
Someone looks at the arrivals and departures board at Philadelphia International Airport in April.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Prices fall between $45 and $65 per person for walk-ups, while customers who pre-book online can get reduced rates starting at $32. Complimentary access is available for American Express cardholders.
The cost includes food and drink, including wine, beer, and spirits, according to Escape. Customers also get private Wi-Fi, charging ports and outlets, printing and copy services, and PressReader, which provides digital access to more than 7,000 newspapers and magazines.
The news comes at a time when airport lounges have become more accessible than ever — and often more crowded. A growing number of credit cards offer lounge access, and travelers without the required cards can buy day passes to most spots.
The bar at the American Airlines Flagship Lounge at Philadelphia International Airport.American Airlines
American Express and British Airways also operate lounges in Terminal A-West, from which many international flights depart.
The airport also has a United Club between Terminals C and D, and Delta Sky Club between Terminals D and E, as well as private Minute Suites between Terminals A and B.
Travelers walk through Philadelphia International Airport in April.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
While the total number of 2025 passengers dropped slightly from the prior year, the airport saw a 7.5% increase in international travelers, executives said.
It was also the first time since before the pandemic that the airport recorded two consecutive years with more than 30 million annual passengers.
Frontier Airlines has begun new nonstop daily service between Philadelphia International Airport and Detroit, taking over a route formerly operated by discount carrier Spirit Airlines.
The service began Sunday, the airline said, adding that it is offering a special introductory one-way fare of $79 between the two cities.
“We are pleased to grow our service at PHL, ensuring low-cost travel options remain available for consumers,” Josh Flyr, vice president of network and operations design at Frontier, said in a statement.
The airline is touting othernew products, including UpFront Plus seating, an option with extra leg and elbow room in the first two rows of the aircraft, the airline said. UpFront Plus customers are guaranteed an empty middle seat.
Frontier carried about 3.1 million passengers into and out of PHL during 2025, ranking second after American, the airport’s dominant carrier, with over 20 million passengers last year.
It operates primarily from 17 gates in Terminal E.
The promotional $79 tickets must be bought before 11:59 p.m. July 12. They apply to select nonstop flights for travel between Aug. 3 and Sept. 2, according to Frontier.
Spirit Airlines had been in chapter 11 bankruptcy and was seeking a $500 million federal bailout to keep going. No deal was reached, so it closed and liquidated its fleet of planes. Spirit had high debt and was struggling under the weight of rising costs, especially of fuel.
Philadelphians sweated through Julys in the 1940s, brooding over World War II as temperatures averaged in the mid-to-upper 70s, including nighttime lows.
Today, as the city prepares to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, they swelter under average July temperatures of around 80 degrees — and those nighttimes have gotten warmer.
Over the past 85 years, Julys in Philadelphia are running on average 4.4 degrees warmer than in 1940, based on an analysis of historical weather data. That translates to an increase of about 0.52 degrees per decade.
(function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();
Nights are even toastier, showing a rise of 4.8 degrees over the same time period.
(function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();
“Science shows that while summer heat is nothing new, climate change is pushing it beyond what we’ve experienced in the past,” Zachary Labe, a climate scientist at the nonprofit Climate Central, said in an email.
The Inquirer used 1940 as a base year in its analysis because it is the oldest year for consistent records at Philadelphia International Airport. The data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Regional Climate Centers ends at July 2025.
The data does not include this July, which could set records.
105 degrees possible
The National Weather has issued an extreme heat warning with possible record highs starting Thursday and heading into the July 4 weekend.
And Philadelphia has declared a heat emergency, activating the city’s pioneering heat-response system.
High temperatures Thursday, Friday, and Independence Day are all forecast to top 100 degrees and threaten daily records. The current record highs for those dates are 103 degrees for Thursday, 104 for Friday, and 103 for the Fourth.
The record-warmest lows are 82, 77, and 79 for those days respectively, according to data from the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office.
The weather service says dangerously hot conditions with heat index values between 100 and 110 degrees are expected each day. Very warm low temperatures in the mid-70s to the low 80s at night won’t offer much relief, the office noted.
When combined, multiple days of such high temperatures and humidity will exacerbate impacts, say those meteorologists. The hottest conditions are expected Thursday through Friday.
Climate change
Although it’s difficult to pin any single heat wave to climate change, the majority of climate scientists say the burning of fossil fuels has led to ever-increasing amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and transformed the climate.
The Princeton-based Climate Center says human activities have warmed the planet by about 1.2°C (2.2°F) above pre-industrial levels. The Princeton-based organization of scientists says that since 1970, July has warmed in 94% of the 243 U.S. cities it studied. Temperatures for the month have risen by 2.6 degrees on average.
“That includes hotter and more humid nights like those this week, which raise health risks because the body has less time to cool down and recover,” Labe said.
A big impact on cities
Excessive heat hits urban areas like Philadelphia hard, said Mathy Stanislaus, of the Philadelphia Climate Justice Collective.
The collective is a partnership of the Mantua Civic Association, SEAMAAC, Esperanza, Overbrook Environmental Education Center, and the Environmental Collaboratory at Drexel University. Stanislaus is vice provost and executive director of The Environmental Collaboratory.
In the most densely populated, least tree-lined parts of Philadelphia temperatures can soar 20 degrees higherthan in greener, wealthier neighborhoods, he notes.
That’s because of the heat island effect, which occurs when cities are significantly warmer than surroundingareas because of the lack of tree canopy combined with high concentrations of heat-absorbing pavement, dark roofs, and buildings.
It’s something many people in the suburbs, or wealthier areas, might not think about, Stanislaus said.
“I don’t think people realize the gravity of the circumstances for lower income urban communities who have an affordability crisis compounded by the heat crisis,” he said.
Stanislaus said some households in the city don’t have air-conditioning, and those that do can face a choice as to whether they should use it or not.
“Even if they have an AC, they may not be able to afford to actually run it,” he said.
According to a report by the collective, Philadelphia households overall on average spend about 6.7% of their income on energy, but that the burden is much higher for Black and Hispanic households. The poor conditions of many homes because of their age contribute to the strain.
Stanislaus says temperatures strain critical public and healthcare systems.
He credits Philadelphia for its array of cooling centers, pools, and spraygrounds. But, he said, many residents are notaware of them or lack transportation. He’d like to see more money devoted to public awareness during heat waves.
In addition, he said healthcare systems need more staff trained in heat-related care and education, as well as better tracking heat-related illnesses and deaths.
There has been one death attributed to heat so far this year, according to data from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. In the past two decades, the biggest number of deaths came in 2011 and 11 with 35. But the city has upped its response measurably since then and the number of deaths has trended down.
Stanislaus believes heat-related deaths and illnesses are underreported.
“There’s an urgency to heat,” Stanislaus said. “We need to meet the moment.”
Still. Tina Fey is from Upper Darby. Taylor Swift is from Reading. At some point, Pennsylvania has to ask whether we’re comfortable with this arrangement.
We’re not saying they have to root for the Sixers. The Sixers haven’t always made that easy.
We’re just saying there are certain things that hit differently when they come from your own people. And watching two Pennsylvania icons cheer on the Knicks in the NBA Finals is one of them.
And somehow the marketing may be even better than the product. “It tastes like the oil from a real cheesesteak wrapper!” was highlighted as a testimonial, which is an astonishing sentence to see in the wild. Because that’s not a flavor profile most companies would voluntarily advertise.
The reaction online was divided. Half the internet was horrified, and the other half was brainstorming recipes involving Sarcone’s bread, pizza, omelets, pasta, and popcorn.
Somewhere between “that’s disgusting” and “OK, I’d try it” lies the city’s entire food identity.
The best part, though, is that the olive oil helps support Mama-Tee Community Fridge, which stocks community refrigerators across Philadelphia with prepared meals. And, let’s be honest, nobody can convincingly argue they aren’t at least a little curious.
A Wawa bag full of Tastykakes made it to the Vatican: A
According to the National Constitution Center, the pope, a Villanova graduate, gave a “big belly laugh” when he saw the Tastykakes.
And the story contains one of the most Philadelphia sentences ever printed: “Where else would this happen that you meet up with the archbishop toting Tastykakes in a Wawa bag?” Iconic.
The delegation was there for a serious purpose ahead of next month’s Liberty Medal ceremony. But it’s hard not to appreciate that somewhere inside the Apostolic Palace sat a Wawa bag and a box of Tastykakes.
Amy Poehler arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)Richard Shotwell
Amy Poehler got cursed out at PHL. Tina Fey had the perfect response: A
Tina Fey’s response? “Welcome to Philly.” No outrage, no apology, and no attempt to explain the behavior.
Just a simple acknowledgment that, yes, this sort of thing occasionally happens here. Philadelphia is one of the few places where somebody might yell at you in an airport and another person will later explain that this is actually part of the culture.
Philly cheesesteaks at Nihonbashi Philly on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
An American cheese shortage in Japan is now a Philadelphia emergency: A-
There are international crises, and then there are international crises.
Philadelphia, of course, was ready to give solutions. Offers to smuggle in Cooper Sharp. Debates over Whiz vs. provolone. Strong opinions about what constitutes an authentic cheesesteak from 6,700 miles away.
The whole thing feels oddly moving. A couple in Tokyo became so obsessed with Philadelphia that they built a restaurant around cheesesteaks, pretzels, Tastykakes, and Eagles fandom. Now Philadelphians are responding as if a neighborhood institution is facing hard times. You stand up for us, we’ll stand up for you.
A large FIFA World Cup banner hangs from an entrance of Philadelphia City Hall as the city prepares to host matches during the FIFA World Cup, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Philadelphia.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
The World Cup hotel boom hasn’t exactly arrived: C+
For years, the World Cup was sold as a tourism bonanza that would fill hotel rooms, pack Airbnbs, and send visitors flooding into host cities.
Days before kickoff, plenty of hotel rooms remain available. Some Airbnb hosts who expected a month-long gold rush are still waiting for bookings. One South Philly host told The Inquirer she expected to be full all month and has gotten just a few nights reserved.
That’s not exactly soccer Coachella.
To be fair, this doesn’t mean the World Cup won’t be successful. Tens of thousands of fans are still coming, and hotels expect a solid summer between FIFA, the Semiquincentennial, and the MLB All-Star Game.
They’re just apparently not paying $900 a night for an Airbnb in South Philly.
