After a brief respite, high temperatures are returning to the area, with little chance of sustained rain relieving the expected highs of nearly 90 degrees.

The summer has already brought high temperatures, with the mean average temperature for July hitting 77.3 degrees at Pittsburgh International Airport, making it the warmest July on record. Records date back to 1952.

Monday set the pace for the week, hitting 89 degrees and the lowest day temperatures won't bring any relief from the heat until at least Friday when the high is expected to reach 85 degrees, according to the National Weather Services' forecast. Nighttime lows, however, will bring cooler temperatures of around 66 degrees.

But Mike Kennedy, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, noted that the hot temperatures come with the summer.

Monday also brought an air quality warning from the state's Department of Environmental Protection. The southwest area, including Butler, was under a code orange air quality alert. As the week continues, Kennedy said a weather front will be moving in Tuesday afternoon and into the evening, bringing possible scattered showers. Kennedy said the front will move to the state's southern border, where it will linger for the week.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Tuesday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read more about the effect this weather could have on farms.