August on track to be one of warmest

With temperatures topping 80 degrees nearly every day in Milwaukee, August is poised to be one of the hottest on record, according to the National Weather Service in Sullivan.

Through Friday, the month ranked as the fourth hottest here since 1871, with an average temperature of 76.1 degrees. The hottest August ever was 1988, when temperatures averaged 77.8 degrees.

This month has already seen one record broken. The temperature was at least 80 degrees every day for the first 20 days of the month, the longest such stretch ever in August.That was just two days short of being the most days in a row above 80 at any time during the summer, according to the weather service.

Including Saturday, the temperature topped 80 on 25 of the 27 days this month, according to preliminary weather statistics for the month.

But the next few days could feel a little bit more like fall, with mostly dry conditions and high temperatures expected to remain in the 70s every day this week except Tuesday, when the forecast calls for a high of 81.

The average temperature in Milwaukee is 6 degrees warmer than average. Madison also had a warm month, one that ranks among the 30 warmest Augusts on record, according to the weather service. In Green Bay, the temperature's been more than 3 degrees above normal, with an average temperature of 70.9 degrees.