Thirty-one high-temperature records for major cities in the Northeast were broken or tied in the first six days of July. The region is on track for the hottest July since 1955.

"We're off to a good start, that's for sure," says Keith Eggleston, senior climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. "Right now, it is too early to make a judgment call whether this July is going to be the hottest or not." He cautions that with two-thirds of the month remaining, lower temperatures could moderate the month's sizzling start.

Early this month Boston, Pittsburgh and Washington saw temperatures average 6.7 degrees higher than normal (based on a 30-year average) for the first week of July. Newark, N.J., saw an average 7.8 degrees higher than normal for the same period, and Philadelphia saw a whopping 8.3 degrees higher average temperature.

To appreciate just how warm it was this early in July, climatologists point to the 12- state region's last big July sizzle, in 1955, when the average temperature for the month was 74 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 4.4 degrees warmer than the normal temperature of 69.6 degrees for the period.

Some more scorching highlights from this July:

• Islip, N.Y., set an all-time high-temperature recordJuly 5 when the mercury reached 102 degrees, one degree higher than the 1991 record.
• Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., set a record two days in a row. On July 5, the 102 degrees beat the old record of 101 degrees set 80 years before, and on July 6 the 103-degree mark handily broke the 22-year-old 100-degree record.
• The sizzling early start for July follows on the heels of the 16th warmest June in the Northeast. For the region, June averaged 2.2 degrees above the 30-year normal, well below June's record set in 1943 when the temperature was 69.3 degrees, or 4.5 degrees warmer than normal.

Maximum temperature records set during early July 1999.