Weather in July not as hot as usual, Extension expert says

* Month could set record--Columbia at 72.2 as of Thursday, matching 1924 for lowest average temperature.

July weather, usually hot as a firecracker, is on the way to setting new cool records, said Pat Guinan, University of Missouri Extension climatologist.

In Vernon County, the highest temperature forecast through July 31 is 87 degrees, the estimated high expected on Friday; cooler than normal.

For example, in Columbia, temperatures the first 22 days of July averaged 72.2 degrees, putting the month so far in a tie with 1924 as the coolest July in 121 years of weather records.

"We've had only one day with a 90-degree high temperature," Guinan said. "But we set two new morning-low records at the 56-degree mark. I have to go back to 1994 to find a previous record-breaking low temperature in July."

The whole state has felt below-normal temperatures, with averages running at minus 4 to minus 5 degrees from normal, he said. "While Missouri is cool, states to the north and northeast, the heart of the Corn Belt, have been colder," said Guinan, who tracks crop weather for the MU Extension Commercial Agriculture Program.

Temperatures from Lamar, Mo., reflected three days over 90 degrees and a low of July 18 of 53.1 degrees noted.

" Even with a few warmer days ahead, we'll likely record one of the 10 coolest Julys on record," he said.

"We are under a northwesterly airflow pattern that brings cool temperatures from Canada. That brings both cool and dry air intrusions, with occasional wet periods, over the Midwest." July's below-normal temperatures in the region are not an indicator one way or another on trends in average global temperatures, he said.

The coolest monthly average records to beat are 1924 with 72.2; 1950, 72.4; 1891, 72.4; 1905, 73.3; and 1904, 73.8.

Guinan maintains a statewide network of automated recording stations that provide local agricultural weather updates on the Internet.

Historical records also are available on the site at agebb.missouri.edu/weather.