National Weather Service calling for record high temperatures on Monday

SIKESTON - Southeast Missouri could salute President's Day with record warm temperatures.

Currently the National Weather Service is calling for temperatures to climb above 70 on Monday, which according to climate data recorded at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport since June of 1960 will top a record of 70 degrees set in 1986. The low Monday is expected to be 52 with just a some clouds dotting the skies.

In looking at the climate history of of Washington's birthday, the National Weather Service at Paducah, Ky., pointed out George Washington was born on Feb. 22, 1732, according to the calendar we now use. But according to the Old Style Calendar then in use, his birth date was Feb. 11.

"Americans celebrated Washington's birthday in the late 18th century, while he was still alive, some on the 11th and some on the 22nd," the NWS reported.

In 1885, Washington's birthday, Feb. 22, became a federal holiday. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved the official observance of Washington's birthday from Feb. 22 to the third Monday in February.

Some wanted to change the name of the holiday as well, to Presidents' Day, in honor of both Lincoln and Washington, but that proposal was rejected by Congress, and the holiday remained officially Washington's Birthday. Technically the federal holiday never falls on Washington's actual birthday since the third Monday in February falls between the 15th and 21st.

For climate purposes, Feb. 22 is used for each year on record prior to 1971, and the third Monday in February for 1971 to the present, the NWS said.

In their records for high and low temperature frequencies and extremes as well as precipitation statistics for Washington's Birthday in Cape Girardeau, NWS reported high temperatures are predominately in the 40s or 50s on Washington's Birthday, encompassing 57 percent of all years on record.

While Cape Girardeau has recorded a high as warm as the 70s only once, back in 1986, there have also been six years where the high temperature failed to reach 32 degrees, most recently in 2015 with a frigid high of 22.

Low temperatures in the 20s or 30s are most common, accounting for 59 percent of all years on record. There are always exceptions to the norm of course: in 2015 the low temperature plummeted to 2 degrees below zero, which is the only year with lows below zero, Paducah weather officials reported.

On the warm side of the spectrum, there have been three years with lows above 50 degrees, most recently in 1986 when a mild low of 53 degrees occurred.

Measurable precipitation has fallen 36 percent of the time, with over an inch of precipitation falling only once, back in 1993.