LABOR DAY WEEKEND Weather

While the calendar says fall begins around the third week of September each year, many people consider Labor Day weekend to be the unofficial end of summer. Which theory does the weather support?

Meteorological summer is defined by convention as the whole months of June, July, and August. The sun is strongest at the summer solstice in late June. Since there is a time lag between the strength of the sun and the seasonal temperature curve, the warmest days of the year occur weeks after the summer solstice.

When are the warmest 90 days of the year exactly? At Paducah, normal daily highs reach 85 degrees on June 12 and fall below 85 degrees on September 3. The weather supports those who say Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer.  

Of course, weather is rarely normal. Looking at past Labor Day weekends so far this decade, here are what daily temperatures looked like for each 3-day weekend at Paducah:

Year Highs Lows
2007 90, 94, 95 59, 63, 68
2006 72, 79, 75 62, 58, 57
2005 86, 84, 85 60, 57, 57
2004 87, 89, 90 64, 64, 66
2003 83, 89, 86 72, 72, 72
2002 93 ,93, 93 65, 65, 68
2001 83, 84, 87 71, 68, 67
2000 94, 94, 91 69, 68, 68

Here are daily rainfall amounts for each 3-day weekend. Measurable rainfall has occurred on two Labor Day weekends this decade, and it occurred each day in 2003.

Year Rainfall
2007 0, 0, 0.04
2006 0, 0, 0
2005 0, 0, 0
2004 0, 0, 0
2003 1.18, 0.27, 0.29
2002 0, T, 0
2001 0, 0, 0
2000 0, 0, 0

Here are the record highs and lows at Paducah for Labor Day weekend of 2008:

Date Record hi Record lo
8/30 100 46
8/31 100 46
9/1 102 45

Finally, here are the normal highs and lows for Labor Day weekend of 2008:

Date Normal hi Normal lo
8/30 85 62
8/31 85 62
9/1 85 62

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