It's been a scorching summer on Haida Gwaii, with the high temperature in Sandspit coming within a fraction of a degree of breaking the longstanding August record.The hottest day we've had so far this August, and so far this entire year, has been Thursday Aug. 5, when the official thermometer at the Sandspit weather station soared to 26.4 degrees Celsius. That's just shy of the August record high of 26.7 degrees, set on the same day almost 60 years ago, Aug. 5, 1952.As of Aug. 15, the average maximum high for August 2010 was 20.5 degrees, somewhat higher than normal.While August is overall the warmest month on the islands, with an average daily high of 18 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Sandspit occurred in July: 27.8 degrees on July 28, 1971. With cooler weather, even some rain, in the forecast, it looks unlikely that we'll set a new high temperature record this summer - but you never know.Copyright Haida Gwaii Observer 2010.