Kids should love the July weather forecast for the Tri-Cities. Firefighters, not so much

Expect hotter- and drier-than-usual weather this month in the Tri-Cities, says the National Weather Service.

Normal highs for July average about 90 degrees and normal lows average about 59 degrees. Normal precipitation for the month is about a quarter of an inch.

June was warmer than usual, with temperatures averaging about 2 to almost 3 degrees above normal in the Tri-Cities.

The temperature hit the triple digits on just one day in June, with a temperature of 101 degrees recorded at the Pasco airport on June 13.

On the same date, a daily temperature record was set at Hanford, where records at the meteorology station are kept back to World War II.

The June 13 high was 102 degrees, beating the previous record of 99 set in 1974.

Thunderstorm hits Hanford, misses Tri-Cities

Less than a week earlier the low temperature of 42 degrees on June 7 tied the record low for the date recorded most recently in 2012.

Hanford saw a severe thunderstorm on the evening of June 26, with about a quarter of an inch of rain falling at the meteorology station in a little more than an hour and 0.8 inches of rain falling in central Hanford. Wind speeds of 50 to 60 mph were recorded in places on the site.

The Tri-Cities also was under a severe thunderstorm watch, but the thunder and lightning missed the Tri-Cities.

June was windier than usual. At Hanford there were seven days with wind gusts of 40 mph or more, which tied the record. Normal Junes have three days with wind gusts of 40 mph or more.

The peak wind gust for the month at the Hanford meteorology station was 51 mph on June 18.

In the Tri-Cities the peak gust was 43 mph recorded in Pasco and Kennewick on June 7.

This story was originally published July 3, 2019 at 7:22 PM.