The final numbers are in!! 2012 will officially go down as the hottest year ever in Chicago's 142 years of observational records dating back to 1871. With an average temperature of 54.5 degrees, 2012 surpassed the previous record of 54.4 degrees back in 1921. The remarkable thing about this record is that 10 of the past 12 months finished above normal -- many of them way above normal! Below is a list of each months temperature departure from normal for the year of 2012.
January: +6.4
February: +5.2
March: +15.6
April: +1.8
May: +6.5
June: +5.0
July: +7.1
August: +0.9
September: -0.5
October: -1.0
November: +0.2
December: +8.4
The disparity between warm and cool days in 2012 were enormous. September and October were the only months that finished cooler than normal. Other contributing stats (locally) from this record-breaking year included recording the warmest March on record with an average temperature of 53.5 degrees and a July which finished as the third warmest on record with an average temperature of 81.1 degrees. Another noteworthy stat for the month of March was a nine day record-breaking high temperature streak from March 14-March 22.
Rockford, IL also set a record for 2012 will an average temperature of 53.1 degrees, easily breaking the record established back in 1931 of 52.8 degrees. Chicago and Rockford both join more than 25 other U.S. cities that have either tied the mark or recorded their all-time warmest year.
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