It really was a hot dry summer in the Quad Cities. The National Weather Service says June, July, and August were the 5th driest on record.
Meteorologist LInda Engebretson says the average high temperature was 85.7 degrees, or nearly four degrees higher than average. And on 40 days, the high was 90 or higher, compared with 17 days during a normal summer.
During the summer months, the Quad Cities usually receives 13 inches of rain, but only got 5 inches this summer.
In Dubuque, the average high temperature was 84, or four degrees warmer than usual. Nearly six inches of rain fell and that was seven inches less than normal.