The first day of August is coming on Friday, and that means many people have already started to look ahead to the end of summer.

There are plenty of other signs all around us that even though we are just a little more than a month into astrological summer (which began June 20), there’s change coming our way.

For example, football practice has started. The Steelers have been at training camp in Latrobe since Thursday, and last weekend saw the return of area high school football when the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference held its 79th annual Rudy Mumley Charity All-Star Football Game.

High school athetes around the region are working toward this year’s opening games, which are a little less than a month away.

That means schools will be opening in just a few weeks — right after the end of the 154th Jefferson County Fair, which will be held Aug. 11-17 at the Friendship Park Fairgrounds in Smithfield.

And, as another indicator, the annual concert series at the Berkman Amphitheater at Fort Steuben Park will come to an end on Thursday, when one of the area’s favorites, Beatlemania Magic, takes to the stage at 7 p.m.

While the summer continues to wind down, there are reminders that there still is plenty of hot weather headed our way. It’s been hot for most of the summer so far. Whether you say that summer begins on the Memorial Day holiday, June 1 or — this year — June 20, we’ve seen plenty of high temperatures and brutal humidity levels for a great part of that period.

This should come as no surprise to anyone. Just about all of the long-range forecasts we received through late winter and spring told us that we could expect to have a hot summer. Those include the forecasts included in our trusted sources for weather information, the Old Farmer’s and Farmers’ almanacs.

Though published almost a year ago, the proprietary formulas used by both publications still seem to be able to produce surprisingly accurate long-range forecasts. Both predicted our region would have a sultry summer season that included plenty of rain and thunder storms.

Each has released a forecast for the fall season and, again, there appears there could be some divergence.

Old Farmer’s, which has been around since 1792, predicts that our region will experience a cool and dry fall. Farmers’, which has only been around since 1818, says that our region will get a fair and chilly start and have a wet, white finish.

According to Old Farmer’s, September and October will be cooler than normal with less rain than we could normally expect. The upside to that is that combination should allow us to experience some impressive colors when the leaves start to turn.

Farmer’s offers a differing view and, in fact, says the Great Lakes region could see some early snow in October. For November, Farmers’ predicts snow will become more frequent.

There’s also a difference in their forecasts for the Labor Day holiday — Old Farmer’s is predicting showers and warm weather for the period, while Farmers’ is calling for fair weather for the same time. Both seem to agree that the period around Halloween will include showers and relatively warmer temperatures.

Before we get there, both publications are calling for hot temperatures and rain and storms through the month of August.

Looking through the pages of the almanacs or reading their updated forecasts always offers a little insight into what might lie ahead.

We can be pretty sure, though, that there will be plenty of warm weather and a storm or two along the way as we move closer to fall, which, depending on your point of view, will begin on Labor Day (which also happens to fall on Sept. 1 this year) or at 2:19 p.m. Sept. 22.

(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times)