Yeah, that was the year that AGW really took off in the news media and that summer and the big drought was a big reason why. The Yellowstone fires also happened that year.
I do think a similar setup is likely this year, with the heat dome centered to our east and occasionally nudging into our backyard. Probably going to be some pretty nasty numbers in places back east that were mostly spared the last few years.
Also a summer that was brutal in the middle of the country. That was the hottest summer I can remember growing up in Minnesota... lawns were burnt brown by early June and lake levels were really low by the middle of summer.
In terms of sensible weather analogs in the region, 1988 is about as good of a match as you could get since mid March.
Even with a couple of big spikes, 1988 would be an extremely tolerable summer by today's standards. Although I could do without the gross October.