Temperatures in the month of July were about two degrees above normal in Iowa, and while rainfall — overall — was a smidge above normal, some areas of the state received only half their normal amount of precipitation. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says the driest area is in northwest Iowa.Places like Rock Rapids, Sanborn and Sibley were two inches below normal for July rainfall. Hillaker says southwest Iowa, on the long term, has been dry as well. And Hillaker says far southeast Iowa — Fairfield and Mount Pleasant — only received an inch-and-a-half of rain in July.But Hillaker says fortunately, the dry July for far southeast Iowa followed a fairly wet spring and early summer. Yesterday was among the year’s hottest, but no weather records were set in Iowa. The daily records were set in the 1930s, when temperatures ranged from 105 to 110 degrees. The highest temperature in July was set in Glenwood. The mercury reached 104 degrees on July 21st in Glenwood.Glenwood had four days in July that were above 100 degrees. That 104 degree reading in Glenwood on the 21st was the highest reading in Iowa since September, 2000. Overall, the past month was the 22nd hottest July on record in Iowa.
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