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September was Paducah's 2nd hottest ever
September was Paducah's second hottest in history, according to the numbers gathered by the National Weather Service office at Barkley Field.We absolutely baked during the first 3 weeks of the month, and we were on pace to break the warmest September on record across the entire region until a much cooler pattern finally set in for the last week of the month.
Paducah witnessed 13 days with a high temperature of 95 or greater, which is a new September record. The previous mark was 12 days over 95 in September of 1939.
It was even hotter in Missouri, and Cape Girardeau did notch its hottest September in history, setting 11 new afternoon highs and new warm morning lows. It was also the warmest September ever for Poplar Bluff, with 6 days over 100 degrees.
Paducah's humidity levels were also incredibly high by September standards, more on par with what we would expect during peak summertime in July. The NWS office issued their latest Extreme Heat Warning on record during the September 1-5 heat wave.
Here's how significant the cumulative high humidity turned out to be: Paducah set a new record of 20 hours of a heat index reading of 105 or higher during September. The previous record was 6 hours, set in 1951. In fact, 20 hours was a higher total than the past 76 Septembers combined. The years 1950 through 2025 only had a combined total of 18 hours that the heat index was 105 or higher.
There was very little relief to the region by way of rain in September. Paducah received just 1.6 inches, in a month that usually sees only about three inches anyway. Parts of southeast Missouri and southwestern Illinois got a half inch or less, while Murray and spots along the Kentucky-Tennessee border had more than two inches.
That trend has been quickly reversed now that the calendar has turned to October. On Friday, Paducah recorded a new daily maximum rainfall of 3.39 inches. That more than doubled the old mark of 1.55 inches set in 1945.
You can see the September details at the NWS Paducah web page .
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