July brought record temperatures and drought to most of the U.S., but in Mount Airy only the heat was an issue, according to a monthly weather breakdown from F.G. Doggett Water Plant.

Anyone who recalls July 2012 as a wet time here will be justified in doing so, with measurable rainfall recorded on 16 of its 31 days.

For the month, precipitation totaled 7.77 inches in Mount Airy, based on figures from the water plant, the city’s official weather-monitoring station. Its report shows 2.08 inches of that was measured for a single day, July 14.

The result for the month was well above the local average for July of 4.76 inches, mirroring a wetter-than-usual trend noted for much of 2012 so far.

Annual precipitation for Mount Airy, through July, stood at 39.02 inches, which is 11.65 inches — or 42.6 percent — above the usual output for the first seven months of the year, 27.37 inches.

The Mount Airy rainfall situation, particularly in July, offered a sharp contrast to other parts of the nation, with federal government scientists reporting that drought conditions gripped 63 percent of the Lower 48 states. Average precipitation for those areas was reported to be 0.19 of an inch below normal.

Fog was noted on 11 days here last month.

Mercury Simmers

What Mount Airy lacked in dryness, it seems to have made up with hotter-than-normal conditions.

Although no high-temperature records were broken — unlike in late June when 100-degree-plus readings occurred — the average high during July was 89.5 degrees.

Counting all highs and lows, the mercury averaged 77.5 degrees, compared to the July average for Mount Airy of 75.8 degrees. Last month’s overall reading here was comparable to the average for the contiguous United States, 77.6, a full 3.3 degrees above the 20th-century average, according to national reports.

The maximum temperature for the month was 99 degrees, recorded for both July 1 and 9.