Busy Labor Day weekend brings sizzling heat as Atlanta hosts football, Dragon Con

Hot and muggy. Dragon Con, Atlanta Black Pride Weekend and so much football.

Atlanta is in for a steaming, sizzling, jam-packed Labor Day weekend. Plan to enjoy your outdoor holiday activities with plenty of water and regular breaks to keep cool.

“Hot and humid conditions will make for hazardous heat through the weekend,” the National Weather Service warned.

Across the region, Thursday temperatures will range between 12 to 15 degrees above normal, the agency said in its forecast discussion.

Thursday’s forecast calls for the feels-like temperature to touch the low to mid-100s across much of North Georgia, prompting the Weather Service to issue a heat advisory until 8 p.m. in the state’s far northwest corner. That alert area includes Rome and Dalton.

In metro Atlanta, the Weather Service predicts a high of 96 degrees Thursday, but the humidity is expected to push the feels-like temperature to 102.

That will make for a still-toasty Georgia Tech football game against Colorado at 8 p.m. Thursday at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.

And there’s no significant cooldown coming until Monday, when there’s a chance for a modest reprieve from the heat.

The heat index, a feels-like measurement of air temperature and humidity, is expected to reach triple digits in metro Atlanta on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. High temperatures in metro Atlanta will hover in the mid-90s those days, the Weather Service said.

There’s also a chance for afternoon and evening rain and thunderstorms Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The high temp on Labor Day is expected to drop to the high 80s.

“In addition to the hot days, high humidity overnight will make for little (if any) relief, especially for those without air conditioning,” the Weather Service said. “Practice heat safety if partaking in outdoor activities or if working outside.”

Kate Bayne, 10, plays in the Big Splash fountain at Town Center Park on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in Suwanee. The National Weather Service predicts hot and humid conditions to continue through a busy Labor Day weekend of college and high school football, events and activities in Atlanta and beyond. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

The sizzle comes during a packed weekend of events and sports in Atlanta and beyond.

More than 170 high school football games are scheduled for Friday night.

“Keeping kids safe is always the most important thing,” said Georgia High School Association executive director Tim Scott.

He said the GHSA sends emails to athletic directors to remind them of heat guidelines, which are less strict for games than for practices.

For games, the GHSA requires an ice immersion tub on site if a wet-bulb temperature — a metric that takes into account several factors to determine how well sweat can cool the body — is 86 degrees or greater. If the reading reaches 90, game officials are required to mandate a three-minute hydration break at the 10-minute mark of each quarter.

For practices, a wet-bulb reading of 87 or higher restricts players to helmets, shoulder pads and shorts. If the reading reaches 92, practices aren’t allowed.

“It’s different because in practices, you may have all your players going at the same time, and the overall activity level is higher,” Scott said. “In games, a lot of times you have two platoons (of 11 players), with a different set for offense and defense, so they can rest, and on the bench you have fans and misters and tents for shade. But coaches still need to be cautious.”

College football also is in full swing. In addition to Thursday night’s Georgia Tech game, Georgia State hosts North Carolina A&T at 7 p.m. Friday at Center Parc Credit Union Stadium in Atlanta.