Fresno hits 108. It wasn’t a record, but what’s the chance of the hottest-ever July?

Fresno didn’t hit a record high temperature Monday, missing the mark of 109 set in 1983 and matched in 2002 and 2012 by one degree. But in reaching 108, the city is on pace for the hottest July this century and one of the top three hottest months of July in recorded history going back to 1887.

Through the first 12 days of the month, the average high has been a sweltering 104.3 degrees, topping 100 on 11 of 12 days with a high of 114 set on Sunday, one degree off the all-time record set in 1905.

The average temperature in July 2021 also could set a record, according to the National Weather Service.

“There is a lot of the month to go, however, it is in our sights,” said Jim Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford. “If we get hot again, my guess would be that average is going to go up slightly. If it stays relatively normal the rest of the month we could be stuck here. But at the end of July, this could be interesting. This could end up being the hottest July on record.”

The hottest average high temperature in July in the Fresno area was a 104.9 in 1908, with a 104.6 average in 1931.

Since 2000, the warmest July was in 2006 when the city averaged a high of 103.4 degrees. There were 20 days in the 100s and the city had five days in a row where it topped 110 with a high of 113.

Elsewhere in Fresno County on Monday, Pine Flat hit 112 degrees and Fancher Creek 109. A 108 was recorded in Trimmer Springs, with Clovis and Kerman hitting 107.

The heat will remain at dangerous levels below 5,000 feet through Tuesday night, but it then is expected to cool slightly the remainder of the week with temperatures returning to a more normal range in the high 90s.

Next week, however, it will trend back toward the mid-100s.

“We are expecting some warmer temperatures and we are going through this drought,” Anderson said. “When you’re dealing with a drought situation the temperatures do tend to be higher because you have such dry soil.”

With excessive heat in the central San Joaquin Valley and other parts of the state and electric transmission lines from Oregon still unreliable due to the Bootleg Fire, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) issued a flex alert between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to help stabilize the state’s electric grid.

This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 6:42 PM.