Ch 2- North America’s Environmental Setting

Philadelphia has an interesting physical environment. Pennsylvania, as well as much of the Northeast, is within the Eastern Forest bioregion. It was mostly forested before European settlers, but is now an urban jungle. 

The city is located on the eastern edge of Pennsylvania, about 60 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Appalachian Mountains to the west. The Delaware and Schuylkill rivers merge where Philly resides. Both rivers serve as landmarks for directions and focal points of the city. As large bodies of water do, the Atlantic Ocean moderates the climate eliminating extremes of hot and cold weather (citydata.com). 


The city lies in a C, Mild Mid-latitude Climate. Specifically, within a Cfa climate which has humid subtropical air, without a dry season and hot summers. During the summer months, the ocean air causes high humidity. Precipitation is fairly consistent year round, and gets 45.7 inches of rain annually (citydata.com) but peak rainfall is during the months of June, July and August. Snowfall does come during the winter months, but is more frequent in northern suburbs. Annually, Philly gets 20.5 inches of snow (citydata.com). 

Image from gridphilly.com

Most of the city is at sea level. Chestnut Hill is the highest point which rises to an elevation of 445 feet (mapsofworld.com). The city was built on relatively flat land by William Penn (more on that next chapter). Because it is such an old city, it is irregularly shaped. Center City, the historic district, still has cobblestone and one-way streets. 

Cobblestone Street from visitphilly.com

Overall, Philadelphia's physical geographic features makes the city more unique. It is a beautiful city, certainly worth visiting and learning more about!