No surprises here...it has been just plain hot over the past week or so.  In fact, as of this Monday morning, the past five days College Station has recorded a high of 99°.  It seems like once the calendar was ready to be flipped to August, Mother Nature turned the furnace up on us for, really, the first time this summer.  Here's how the heat has played out so far:

July 29:  95°

July 30:  97°

July 31:  99°

August 1:  102°

August 2:  101°

August 3:  100°

August 4 - 8: 99°

For this time of the year, our "normal" daytime high usually tops off right around 97°.  So while temperatures are not too far off from the normal, factor in that sultry heat index making it feel more like 105°  to 109° and that's where that excessive heat comes into play. 

After this week, however, there is a sign of some changes...finally.  Granted, this is still over a week away and a lot can change between now and then.  So as you read this with a grain of salt, here's what the extended outlook has to offer:

As our ridge of high pressure shifts to the Western United States, that should allow temperatures to slide down  a bit.  Don't expect a big blue north'er to come down and all of a sudden make everything room temperature, but it does look like afternoon highs will have a chance to settle in around the mid-90s rather than climbing close to the century mark every afternoon.  That possibility alone is good enough for the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) to place us in a "below normal" temperature category for next week.

Also, just on a side note, the Atlantic Hurricane Season has been pretty quiet and tame up to this point.  We've only run through Alex, Bonnie and Colin by this point in the year.  That's not a reason to let our guard down just yet.  August and, especially, September usually bring the most tropical and hurricane activity.  La Nina is also starting to become better defined in the Pacific which will be a big player in possibly aiding in tropical development over the next couple of months.  Of course, you can always check the latest at our Hurricane Center.