Overnight low before dawn in Albuquerque: 73.

Previous record, according to the Western Regional Climate Center: 72, set in 1925.

update, 3:40 p.m.: I wasn't very clear. It's a record for July 20. All-time record is 78, July 15, 2003.

Last day Albuquerque had below-average temperatures: June 14.

More from me in this morning's paper(sub. req.):

When the monsoon is firing on all cylinders, it can bring as much as 40 percent of the annual precipitation that falls in New Mexico, with thunderstorms firing up in early July and lasting into mid-September.

But research by Higgins suggests that a late start translates to a sub-par monsoon season.

Dry summers have become a habit of late. After gangbuster monsoon seasons from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, with above-average rainfall, the last five summers have been the driest in New Mexico since the late 1930s.

As often happens, heat has been an unwelcome side effect of the lackluster monsoon season. In Albuquerque, we have not had a cooler-than-average day since June 14, and the current National Weather Service long-range forecast suggests that is not likely to change at least through early next week, despite Emily's lingering ghost.

Overnight temperatures have been especially warm— four degrees warmer than average for July, on track to be the second-warmest average overnight temperature reading in Albuquerque history. Tuesday morning's low of 72 tied an all-time record for warmest overnight low for July 19.