GRAND RAPIDS, MI — It doesn't take a recap of broken records to know West Michigan was absolutely boiling last month. (Yes, it's already August.)
Figures published Wednesday by the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids show the city broke its longstanding monthly average high temperature record of 91 degrees set 91 years ago in 1921.
The July 2012 monthly average high eked past that mark, coming in at 91.1 degrees, according to the weather service.
Despite this, Grand Rapids is trailing the record number of 90-degree or higher days in a calendar year, the weather service said.
To date this year there have been 28 such days, nine short of the 37 days that baked West Michigan in 1988.
There is, however, the matter of July 6, when the mercury climbed to 104 degrees, a record for that day and the third highest temperature ever recorded in the city since record-keeping began in 1892.
The month also was the second warmest on record for the city, when looking at average temperature.
Last month's average came in at 79.2 degrees, failing to eclipse the 91-year-old record of 79.7 set back in 1921.
In terms of cool temps, Grand Rapids' lows never fell below 60 degrees last month for the first time during any month of the year since record-keeping began.
The weather service also published broken records for Muskegon in Lansing. The full list may be viewed here.