August outlook - will the cool continue?

The month of July ends on a strange note with such cool temperatures. Most of the state ended up with highs in the 70s yesterday, which is usually our low temperatures in late July. And today won't get much warmer than the low 80s.

Average temperature map for July 218 - Several areas cooler than normal (and some hotter - in orange and red)

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that the hottest part of the summer is likely over with for this area. And I still believe that to be the case. It's unlikely that any major heat wave will set in across the Plains, but we still have a decent amount of summer weather yet to go and there will be days we get close to 100.

Here's what I'm looking at for early August:

After a cool end to July, we are headed for warming temperatures the next few weeks. I expect the first two weeks of August to have near normal temperatures (mainly 90s)

As we get into the middle of the month, there are signs of some cooler weather that will show up once again over the central and northern Plains, while the west may very well heat up again.

And the second half of August may turn off cooler than normal (which would mean more 80s rather than 90s) I don't this the cool weather will be quite as widespread as you see below, but our area should be cooling down.

Precipitation: Not looking good for Kansas. From what I can tell, precipitation will be few and far between through the first half of August. The areas that are in desperate need (like eastern Kansas) will continue to be dry. Sometimes we get some good rains in August, but this year could be a real struggle. Almost all of the data I've looked at lately suggests that dry conditions will be common for the upcoming month. Maybe conditions will turn later in August, but the beginning of the month is dry. (click on the images below to make them larger) - they show % of normal rainfall (red and white colors are not good)