This summer will go down in the record book as one of the hottest in North Alabama history — but not the hottest.

According to a study conducted by the University of Alabama at Huntsville, this summer – which includes the months of June, July and August – was the hottest in more than 50 years. It is the 19th hottest of the past 114 summers.

For Limestone and surrounding areas, the average maximum, daily-high temperature for the past three months topped 91.4 Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius) for the first time since 1954, said Dr. John Christy, Alabama’s state climatologist and a professor of atmospheric science at UAH.

The long, hot summer has all but destroyed Limestone County’s cotton and corn crops, which could cost farmers millions of dollars, said local agricultural expert Mark Hall.

Drought caused Limestone County’s 70,000 acres of cotton to mature early, he said.

Yields this year will be half of what they were last year when Limestone County ranked first in the state in cotton production, he said.

The area’s record-high temperature of 111 degrees came in July 1930, during a summer with 28 days of temperatures at or above 100 degrees.

By comparison, temperatures at the Huntsville International Airport hit 100 degrees only twice this summer.

At Pryor Field Airport in south Limestone County, temperatures reached 100 or 101 seven times this summer, statistics show.