The heat is on again: Forecasters expect temps in the 80s for holiday weekend

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FARGO — As Labor Day nears, a little rain may drop in over the weekend, but temps are expected to stay warm enough to enjoy an unofficial end to summer that feels like summer.

After today’s forecast high of 97 degrees by the National Weather Service in Dickinson, temps are expected to remain warm through the holiday weekend. Forecasts predict highs around the mid- to lower 80s on the east end of the state, said meteorologist Bill Barrett with the weather service. For the west, the temps are expected to be in the mid- to upper 80s.

The record temperature for today was 106 degrees, set in 1905.

“It’s still warm for this time of year, or for any time of year here,” Barrett said.

Since June marked a warmer than average month and July made the history books as the second-warmest month on record (behind July 1936) even a cooler August could make the 2012 summer one for the books.

Wheeler said that depending on how the last few days of the month turn out, June, July and August will likely end up being Fargo-Moorhead’s fourth-warmest summer on record.

Temperature records have fallen across the nation all summer long.

Wheeler said it’s difficult to forecast the month of September, but he suspects students will be back to school in a warmer-than-average month. The average high temperature on the first day of September is 76 degrees and by the end of the month, it is usually 64 degrees, Wheeler said.

“We won’t be above average every day in September, but my guess is less than half of the days of the month will be,” he said.

Tags: labor day, news, weather, forecast, temperature