It was a warm start to the long holiday weekend, with highs reaching into the upper 80s for most, including a high of 87° in Rockford and 91° in Janesville. Plenty of sunshine and breezy Southwesterly winds helped to warm us up for the afternoon.

Overnight, those winds along with slightly higher dew points help to keep temperatures from falling too far. Overnight lows under the mostly clear skies hover near or just above the 60° mark, a bit warmer than we have been for the last few nights in a row.

Sunday brings yet another warmer afternoon, with highs reaching the low 90s for many across the Stateline. Skies will remain mostly sunny, very similar to Saturday. Humidity also remains on the lower end, with dew points staying in the upper 50s and low 60s, keeping heat indices near the air temperature.

Historically, Labor Day has an average high temperature of 80° in Rockford. Our warmest Labor Day on record came in 2012 and 1922 when we reached a high of 96°. Only 11% of Labor Day’s in Rockford reach the 90° mark, and it appears we will reach that benchmark this year.

Labor Day looks among the warmest on record for Rockford, with highs reaching into the low 90s again. This time, humidity will be more of a factor, with dew points rising into the 60s and 70s. As a result, the heat index could reach the upper 90s at times during the afternoon. Make sure to stay hydrated if you plan to be outdoors for extended periods of time!

The increase in humidity Monday will be accompanied by rain chances shortly after. The moisture will increase not only at the surface in the form of higher dew points, but also rising moisture in the mid-levels as well. This along with an incoming wave of energy will bring scattered rain chances on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Storms are also possible, but there are still a number of uncertainties before making specific determinations on that area of the forecast.

After the heat followed by humidity for the Labor Day weekend and couple days following, temperatures look to remain above normal throughout the week, but slowly returning back to the low 80s with drier conditions by the following weekend.