In the immortal words of Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam: July was Hot, Damn Hot! In fact, according to NOAA [3], it was the hottest July and hottest month on record and there's no short-term indication of this massively dry spell ending anytime soon. What is perhaps even more impressive is that the the last year has been the warmest 12-month period for the contiguous US since records began in 1895!
Just crazy anomalous conditions wherever you look in July...
[4]
with March through July all setting records for highest temperatures on record...
[5]
and the warmest 12-month period on record (since 1895!)...
which is summarized by Robin Williams thus:
Source: NOAA