paulknightly, 
I've anecdotally been saying last summer was hotter in Northwest Arkansas, but finally dug out the numbers this evening.
Last summer XNA topped 100F at least 8 times vs 3 times this summer, thus far, including today. Most of those 100+ days last year were in July.
The airport is in the countryside and generally removed from the urban heat island where temps have been consistently over 100F.
Regardless, 100F is about 10 degrees above average in August. With the humidity - it's awful. #arwx