Sweatin' out the summer: Impressively oppressive

July was the fifth-hottest July on record in the Twin Cities.

What? Only fifth?

Thanks to copious rain and humidity, the midsummer discomfort approached epic proportions, even without record-setting temperatures. August usually brings some relief, but Monday's downpours and dew points didn't seem to reverse any trends. And for better or worse, summer's a long way from over.

"It's either raining like crazy, or it's extremely hot," said Kevin McNealey, who felt the impact in a distinctive way as owner of Blue Ladder Painting in Minneapolis. "The paint either dries too slow or dries too fast."

McNealey said his work is down about 20 percent this year, though it's unclear how much is due to weather and how much is due to the economy.

"When the end of the season comes around, sometimes people say, 'I should have gotten that painted.' I'm hopeful that's going to be the case," he said.

Rainfall for July, 5.23 inches, was 29 percent above normal, and rain fell on 13 days. For those whose work wasn't affected, it fell on four out of five weekends.

•The Twin Cities reached a record 82-degree dew point July 19.

•The same day brought a record heat index of 119.

•The temperature never dropped below 80 on July 20, a record "high low." The monthly average low was 69.7 degrees, third-highest on record behind only the Dust Bowl years of 1936 and 1935.

•July pushed the Twin Cities tally of dew points of 75 degrees or higher to 96 hours for the summer, smashing the old record of 78 hours for the entire summer, set in 2001. By 3 p.m. Monday, we'd climbed to 98 hours.

Weeds 2, Sweet Corn 1

Hold the gazpacho

The steamy weather hasn't affected Minnesotans' affection for outdoor dining. At the Dock Cafe in Stillwater, owner Sherri Hopfe said the outdoor tables have been consistently more in demand than those indoors, even during the hottest recent weather. She's been reminding table servers to drink plenty of liquids, and trying to make sure they split time between outdoor and indoor serving.

"I think Minnesotans just really want to be outside," she said.

One other surprising hot-weather quirk: People love chicken wild rice soup, no matter the season.

"One thing we laugh about is how much hot soup we sell," she said. "It doesn't matter how hot [the weather] gets."

Despite its reputation, August brings some cooling as the days shorten. The Twin Cities can expect the average daily high to drop 3 degrees and the nighttime low to drop almost 4 as nearly an hour and a half of daylight vanishes. The outlook for August, September and October from the national Climate Prediction Center identifies a trend toward higher-than-normal temperatures for much of eastern Minnesota and higher-than-normal precipitation for the western half.

The top four

The four Julys that beat out this year in the temperature department were 1936, 1935, 2006 and 1916, with monthly averages of 81.4, 79.9, 79.6 and 79 degrees, respectively. Last month's average was 78.8.

Bill McAuliffe • 612-673-7646