The past month was great for swimming and ice sales, and that might have been about it. But for as hot as it's been, July '06 didn't break any records.

BY ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS | Lincoln Journal Star

July was great for swimming and ice sales.

“This isn’t our best year ever, but it’s a very good year,” said Sandy Myers, recreation manager for the City Parks and Recreation Department.

The best summer for city pool attendance was in 2002, when 275,000 people hit the cool waters.

“It was a really hot year,” Myers said.

 This summer is also shaping up to be a scorcher. “At this point in the season, compared to our best season, we’re about 3,000 behind,” Myers said.

Dan Staples, manager of Arctic Glacier Ice at 601 J St., is also pleased  with the way summer is going, especially July.

“It’s been good. Sometimes it gets too hot and people don’t move  around too much,” said Staples, in between loading up semi-trailers with blocks and bags of ice. 

People don’t play that much when the temperatures soar to 100 or more, he said. And when they don’t play there’s less demand for ice.

How hot did it get in July?

The temperature climbed to 100 degrees or more on six days — the same as in July 2005. 

The average temperature for July was 80.1 degrees, or 2.3 degrees above normal.

While no all-time records for highs were broken, we did come close, said John Pollack, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Valley.

On July 19, the temperature reached 108. Pollack said the last time it got that hot in Lincoln was on  July 12, 1995.

And the last time it got hotter than 108 was on July 17, 1954, when the thermometer inched up to 109 degrees.

But the real story of July is the dryness. Much of Nebraska is in moderate or severe drought — and in a moisture deficit.

As of Monday afternoon, rainfall for July totaled 2.08 inches for the Lincoln area. That’s 1.46 inches below normal.

The dry weather began at the worst time — just when the growing season started, Pollack said.

Since May 1, total precipitation for the area has been 4.82 inches. Normal rainfall for that period is 11.28 inches.

The last time it was drier was in 1953, when 4.62 inches fell between May 1 and July 31.

But there’s relief in sight.

A front is moving into eastern Nebraska, bringing with it a good possibility of thunderstorms for Tuesday and Wednesday, Pollack said.

Temperatures should also drop into the 80s, beginning on Wednesday and lasting through Friday.

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.

July’s hottest days

In Lincoln, the temperature soared to 100 degrees or higher on the following days:

July 1: 100

July 16: 103

July 19: 108

July 29: 101

July 30: 103

July 31: 104

Source: National Weather Service