As we approach Labor Day weekend and the start of September, I really start to notice the signs in the sky that summer is about over.

The sun rose today around 6:30 this morning, and will set around 7:30 this evening. That's still 13 hours of daylight, but a far cry from two months ago when we had about 15 hours. If you track the sun's path across the sky these days, you'll notice that it doesn't rise nearly as far above the horizon as it did back in late June - in fact, if you judge a day by how high the sun gets in the sky and thus how intense the sunshine is, then late August is actually equivalent to mid-April. Late August is much warmer, however, by a good 15-20^oF, simply because the earth and atmosphere have stored a lot of energy from the warm months that came before.

In addition to the lingering warmth in the air, summer's most noticeable attempt to hang on in the coming months will be the lingering warmth in the oceans, which helps fuel tropical systems. Some of the most devastating tropical storms and hurricanes to ever affect this area occurred in September and October, including David, Floyd, and Hazel.