July 2013 will be remembered as one of the hottest months on record in Southern New England. For most of the country, though, it was cooler than normal. The contiguous United States average temperature anomaly was about a half-degree celsius cooler than normal for July. The coolest areas were in the Upper Midwest, Plains, and Southeast. Aside from the Northeast, there was also warmer than normal weather in the mountainous west. The hot weather in the Northeast broke around the 21st of the month, and the final week was much cooler than normal nationwide.
The slightly cool month comes after an extended stretch of warmer than normal weather dating back to early-May.
Graphics from weatherbell.com