The midweek forecast from the National Weather Service at Barkley Field includes highs in the mid-90s coupled with uncomfortable humidity, enough to create afternoon heat indices at 100 or higher on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
That's not enough to trigger an official weather statement, but it is enough to urge caution for people and animals who will spend extended time exposed to the heat and sun.
The calendar is on our side for the inevitable slide into cooler temperatures, mainly because we lose about 2 minutes and 20 seconds of daylight each day this month.
Today's normal high for Paducah is 85 degrees; one month ago it was 90, and one month from now it will be 73.
But another look in the record books reminds us that on this day in 1939, the thermometer soared to 104 degrees. (September was a brutal month in '39, with six days over 100 degrees!)
The latest day in the year that Paducah saw triple digits was 102 degrees on September 15 in, of course, 1939.
Even into the weekend, the heat will back off only slightly to 89 or 90 degrees.
On the Net:
Paducah Weather Service webpagePaducah Weather Service records and averages
