Rain, rain --- went away, finally

For the first time since June 30, some parts of north Georgia were rain-free Tuesday.

Gainesville was one such place, based on data collected at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport.

Until Tuesday, there had been some rain recorded at the airport for 16 straight days - ranging from 1.24 inches on July 6 to just a trace on July 11. Other daily totals were:

June 30 - 0.01
July 1 - 1.14
July 2 - 0.01
July 3 - 1.10
July 4 - 1.06
July 5 - 1.04
July 7 - 0.04
July 8 - 0.24
July 9 - 0.03
July 10 - 0.37
July 12 - 0.18
July 13 - 0.11
July 14 - 0.12
July 15 - 0.01

The total for the 16 days is 6.7 inches.

Rainfall is running about a foot above normal for this time of year in many parts of north Georgia and high temperatures have been running below normal all of July and most of the summer - sometimes as much as 10 or 11 degrees below average. (See earlier stories. Links below.) Even Tuesday's high at the Gainesville airport was one degree below average for the date. Through the middle of July, Gainesville has recorded only three 90-degree days this year - all of them in June: 92 on June 12, 90 on June 13, and 91 on June 28.

As for the rest of this week, AccuWeather.com says expect highs of 90 on Wednesday with a Heat Index of 106; 91 on Thursday, Heat Index 105; 88 on Friday; and 86 on Saturday. The chance of rain the rest of the week ranges from 40-60 percent, with the best chance on Thursday.

The level of Lake Lanier was 1072.51 Tuesday morni8ng, 0.83 feet higher than it was July 1 but down from the monthly high, 1073.20, on July 8.

Meanwhile, parts of the Northeast are baking in the summer's first major heat wave. (See separate story.)

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)