Sign In | Create an Account | Welcome, . My Account | Logout | Subscribe | Submit News | Newspaper contacts | Home RSS
 
 
 

Activities, chance of rain in line for Labor Day weekend

August 31, 2012
By MATT HUTCHINSON (mhutchinson@sungazette.com) , Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Labor Day for some includes picnics, swimming and taking time to relax.

It also means travel, which AAA said is expected to increase by almost 3 percent from last year's number of people who took to the roads during the holiday.

The organization estimates that 33 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the holiday. According to AAA, the increase is due to improving consumer confidence and people's desire to travel.

Article Photos

SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Boats race during a previous Labor Day Regatta in Lock Haven.

While automobile travel is expected to increase, so is air travel, AAA said. Decreasing airfares account for a 3.7-percent increase in airline travel this Labor Day holiday compared to last year.

Locally, drivers are warned to travel sober. State and local police forces will conduct enforcement efforts through Monday.

The Lycoming County DUI Taskforce, which includes local municipal police departments, state police, Lycoming County sheriff's department and Pennsylvania College of Technology police will participate in highway enforcement, said Rick Mason, state Department of Transportation public information officer in Montoursville.

In addition to alcohol-related driving offenses, police also will be on the lookout for drug-related incidents.

"As we remind motorists to drive sober for the Labor Day holiday, we also want to raise awareness of the growing safety threat that drugged drivers present," said Barry J. Schoch, PennDOT secretary.

The taskforce will conduct checkpoints and roving patrols to keep impaired drivers off the road.

There will be plenty of festivities in Lock Haven during the 42nd annual Labor Day regatta sponsored by the Lock Haven Area Jaycees. The three-day event features food, games, rides, arts and crafts and sanctioned American Power Boat Association racing on the Susquehanna River.

A fireworks display is planned for 6 p.m. Sunday. The display, which promises to be one of the largest in the area, according to organizers, commemorates the late Ron "Boomer" Brungard, who was an active member of the Jaycees.

Free musical performances will take place during the regatta on the Steven Hill Memorial Stage in front of the Clinton County Courthouse.

Activities on the Lockport side of the river also will be available.

The 11th annual Run/Walk for Your Heart 5K race is scheduled for Labor Day at the Williamsport Regional Medical Center, 699 Rural Ave. Registration is from 7:30 to 9 a.m.

Weather for first part of the extended weekend looks good, according to the National Weather Service in State College, but a chance for rain exists for Sunday night and Labor Day.

Forecaster Matt Steinbugl said the possibility of rain comes from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac.

"By that time, Isaac will have lost all its tropical characteristics except for some moisture," he said.

The weather service is calling for a 30-percent chance of rain on Sunday night and a 40-percent chance on Monday.

Saturday's high temperature will be near 82 with mostly sunny skies. Sunday will be slightly cloudier with a high near 77. The high on Monday is expected to be around 75, according to the weather service.

Steinbugl said daily temperatures will start to drop this time of the year.

"Typically by September, we're past our warmest days and start to trend seasonally downward," he said.

Looking further ahead, the forecaster said the weather service is predicting warmer-than-average temperatures for December, January and February.

 
 

 

I am looking for:
in:
News, Blogs & Events Web