Seventy years ago on this date, Lawrence recorded the highest temperature in its history — it was 114 degrees in the shade on Aug. 10, 1934. But don’t expect anything near that kind of heat today.

“We’ll only top out at 79 degrees today,” says Jennifer Schack, 6News meteorologist, who is predicting temperatures that are well-below average through Friday.

Latest forecast

A cold front that moved in has kept this morning’s temperatures in the mid 60s, under cloudy skies. Today’s high is expected to be 79, with a chance of showers and thundershowers going into the evening, with more threats of rain over the next two days, Schack said. The average temperature for this date is 90.

The National Weather Service says there’s a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for the Lawrence area today, with a 60 percent chance overnight and a 20 percent chance Wednesday morning.

“It’s going to be quite cool on Wednesday, the coolest day of the week,” Schack said.

The overnight low will drop to 58 by early Wednesday morning, with the high rising to only 73 Wednesday afternoon under partly cloudy skies.

The National Weather Service says there’s a 20 percent chance of showers Wednesday night.

Thursday’s morning low will be the coolest for the week, dipping to 52 degrees. Thursday’s high will climb to 75, with a 20 percent chance of afternoon showers.

Friday’s morning low will be 56, with the high reaching 75.

“For this weekend, we finally break above the 80-degree mark,” Schack said, predicting high temperatures of 80 for Saturday and 84 for Sunday.