BLOOMINGTON -- July 2009 will go into the record books as the coolest in Bloomington-Normal's recorded history.

The month's mean temperature (the average of the high and low temperatures) was only 68.6 degrees through Thursday, said Jim Angel, a climatologist with the Illinois Water Survey in Champaign-Urbana. That's 6.6 degrees below the typical July mean of 75.2 degrees.

"It's not just unique to Bloomington-Normal," Angel said. "All the Midwest and the East Coast were much cooler than average."

Peoria and Lincoln joined the Twin Cities in seeing their coolest July, according to the National Weather Service. It was the second coolest July for Springfield.

Lincoln's mean temperature through Thursday was 69.4 degrees - 5.6 degrees below normal. Even the community's high temperatures were at record lows: 70 degrees on July 1, 72 degrees on July 17 and 71 degrees on July 18. It tied a record low with 49 degrees on July 20, according to the weather service data.

Angel said the cooler temperatures were complements of Canadian air dipping further south than usual. Typically the Midwest is influenced by air from the Gulf of Mexico in July.

The lower jet stream also allowed large scale storms to come through the area that typically would have stayed further north, he said.

Angel said between 3.3 and 4.5 inches of rain was recorded at various weather stations in Bloomington, Normal and the surrounding area. The month typically brings about 3.77 inches.

The cooler temperatures and rainy days had both good and not-so-good effects on summertime activities.

Barb Wells, superintendent of recreation at Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, said the city's swimming pools haven't even opened six days this swimming season because of the weather. The pools closed early on several other days.

Despite that, attendance was up nearly 2,000 over the same time last year, Wells said.

Daily attendance also is up at Normal's aquatic centers but the sale of season passes was way down, said Joel Dickerson, aquatics/special events supervisor. The town's two pools closed five days because of the weather this summer and closed early six to 10 days, he said.

It's a different story at golf courses.

Normal Parks and Recreation Director Garry Little said the weather has been great for golfers. The number of rounds is up over last year and last year was great, he said. Exact figures weren't available.

Jason Wingate, superintendent of Bloomington's golf courses, said except for a July 4 rain out, the weather had little affect on the "hardy crew" of golfers, but the rain and cooler temperatures were great for the golf courses.

"There was no heat stress," he said.

The rainfall also saved the city money because courses didn't have to be watered as often, he said. An exact savings was not available.

July's cooler temperatures also likely helped cut residents' electric bills.

Leigh Morris, spokesman for Ameren Illinois Utilities said exact figures won't be available until the end of the third quarter but, "energy consumption typically goes down when it's cooler."

But, he added, consumers often also get complacent about other energy conservation measures if they aren't running the air conditioning as much.

"If they saved money without doing anything, think how much they could save if they did," he said.

While heating and cooling homes are the biggest energy users, Morris said water heaters and refrigerators also consume a lot of energy.

Ameren has many energy-savings tips on its Web site: www.ameren.com.

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No heat here

On average, the Twin Cities has nine July days that reach 90 degrees or higher. This year, the highest the mercury went was 85 degrees on July 15 - the second straight year with no 90-degree days in July. Here's a look at July in the past 10 years:

Year	Average high	Mean temperature*	90+ degree days
2008	83	74.1	none
2007	81.9	72.8	1
2006	86	77	9
2005	87.2	77.1	8
2004	81.2	72.7	none
2003	84	75	6
2002	87.4	77.6	15
2001	86	76.6	9
2000	82	74	none
1999	88	78.6	15

Source: Illinois State University

*The mean temperature is the average of the highest and lowest temperatures.

Other July facts:

• The highest Twin City temperature recorded in July since record-keeping started was 114 degrees on July 15, 1936.
• The year of 1936 holds the high temperature record for 14 days in July.
• All July record-high temperatures top 102 degrees.
• The lowest temperature recorded in July was 44 degrees in 1904.