Last year's summer was highly out of the ordinary in terms of being very mild (and I am
not a hot weather fan at all, or a fan of anything over 75 degrees, so if I'm telling you it was mild, it was mild!


). Basically, we had what I would call a "delayed summer," in which June, July and even to some degree August, were below normal compared to what they would normally be. (I didn't feel like the skin was burning off of my face for once, so I knew it was mild.)
However, once September rolled around...that's when all the fun (NOT!) summer weather kicked in, and suddenly Los Angeles experienced its hottest day in recorded history. September was miserable for me. It was 113 degrees in some places, 118 in others.

It was a delayed summer - like summer was playing 'catch up'!
October was alternately hot, then rainy. November had some days in the 80's. And on my Christmas DLR trip, two of my days were in the 90's and upper 80's - in December! It was hot enough for my peppermint ice cream to instantly start melting as I exited Gibson Girl Ice Cream on Main Street.
So far, in 2011, July has been more normal for this time of year than it was last year. We've had more hot weather than we did last year - and we have actually had much more humidity than we normally have! It has not been as dry as it usually is. But it's still not been as hot as some Julys are.
Since July has been more normal, temperature-wise, than last year, I am thinking August will probably be back on track, too, and will resume its status of being one of the hottest months of the year, sometimes being very, very, very hot.
I think rain in August is going to be next to impossible.