Diane Valden reports in The Columbia Paper that, as of August 6 there were 15 days this year when the temperature hit 90 degrees or above, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Ray O’Keefe. Last year there were only eight days when the mercury reached 90 degrees, and ten is the average. “Yes, hitting 90 degrees on August 6 is 10 to 12 degrees above normal, but measured relative to record days, it’s not extreme and we’re not pushing any records at this point,” the 35-year-veteran meteorologist said. But the heat does not help local crops. “When the temperature hits 86 degrees corn will not grow any faster,” Cooperative Extension Regional Agronomy Educator Aaron Gabriel said this week. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.