012 Hottest Year on Record for Northeast

By CnAgri2012-08-08 19:31:55 Print

If you live in the Northeast, welcome to the hottest year on record.

New data released by the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University shows the Northeast's seven-month average (January through July) of 49.9 degrees was the warmest such period since 1895, the year such record keeping began. It was the second warmest such period in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the warmest first seven months of the year in the rest of the Northeast.

The 12 months that ended July 31 was likewise the warmest such period in 117 years in the Northeast, and in all of the states except West Virginia -- where the average temperature of 54.7 degrees missed tying the record set in 1932 by 0.1 degree.

New maximum temperature records were set at many of the region's first-order stations during July as the mercury soared into the upper 90s and low 100s. The sensor at Washington's National Airport recorded 105 degrees on July 7, surpassing the record of 102 degrees set just two years ago. Baltimore's new record temperature of 104 degrees on the 18th broke the city's long-standing record of 102 degrees set in 1887.