[7/1/04]It’s over, at least as far as the record books are concerned.

June 2004 has ended with an all-time record local rainfall, submerging the previous record set 95 years ago by more than an inch.

And while the forecast for the first days of July is not very encouraging, the National Weather Service is predicting a small chance for sunshine for Sunday, the Fourth of July.

The record rainfall for June had been 9.96 inches, measured in 1909. This year’s official total will be 11.31 inches, or 1.35 more.

And it’s not just that the record was soaked. Normal rainfall for June is a mere 3.16 inches.

With above-normal rains, the first half of the year has ended with a total of 41.82 inches, well above the year-to-date average of 29.99 inches.

Zone forecasts call for chances of showers and thunderstorms through Monday at least. The likelihood of rainfall through the weekend is 50 percent on Sunday and dropping to 20 to 30 percent for Monday through Wednesday.

Long-range predictions the month of July show a drying-out period. Forecasts call for rainfall to be nearly normal through the central portions of the United States.

Temperature forecasts for the area over the weekend call for daytime readings in the 80s, or a little lower than normal for this time of year. The lower temperature predictions are related to the cloud cover and rainfall predicted for the area.

At night the predictions for the weekend are for temperatures in the 70s, also lower than normal.

Winds will likely be light during most of the time, with the exception being near the scattered showers and thunderstorms.