The heat broke a record in July. Will August be a repeat?

The Tri-Cities cooked in July, with temperatures climbing to as high as 107 degrees.

But that’s not the end of it.

Expect another hotter than usual month, says the National Weather Service.

In July, it wasn’t necessarily how high the mercury got, but how long it stayed high that set the month apart from usual.

The end of the month felt particularly hot as highs climbed to at least 100 for six of seven days.

The record for the most days in July with triple-digit highs was broken at the Hanford Meteorological Station.

The station recorded 17 days with temperatures of at least 100, beating the previous record of 16 days. Daily temperature records have been kept since the mid 1940s.

High temperatures in July at the Tri-Cities Airport averaged 95.5 degrees.

In August, highs normally average about 89 degrees and lows average about 58 degrees, with the weather service predicting above normal temperatures for this month.

However, the Tri-Cities should get some relief from the heat as the month starts, according to the daily forecast.

Highs will drop to about 92 on Thursday and then to the mid 80s Friday and Saturday, according to the weather service.

The cooler temperatures, won’t last. They’ll start to climb again by the end of the weekend and could be back in the triple digits by Wednesday, according to the long-range forecast.

In July no rain fell in the Tri-Cities, according to the weather service. The Hanford station recorded just a trace of precipitation on July 9.

August also is expected to be drier than usual. Normal precipitation is about 0.2 inch.

The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor shows most of the Mid-Columbia as “abnormally dry,” with the southwest corner of Benton County in “moderate drought.”

Precipitation for the year is down.

At the Tri-Cities Airport, precipitation has totaled 4.08 inches, which is 1.13 inches below normal.