Ocean City Not Alone In Sweltering Through 2012

Even before watching a powerful mid-autumn hurricane drown the island, many Ocean City residents might remember 2012 for its mild winter and hot summer.

A study of climate data from the past year confirms that 2012 was a warm one — the hottest year ever recorded, according to a new report by Justin Gillis in the New York Times.

"How hot was it? The temperature differences between years are usually measured in fractions of a degree, but last year’s 55.3 degree average demolished the previous record, set in 1998, by a full degree Fahrenheit," Gillis writes.

Gillis reports that 34,008 daily high records were set at weather stations across the country.

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Read "Not Even Close: 2012 Was Hottest Ever in U.S."
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The nationwide trend reflects local data that shows higher-than-average temperatures in 10 of 12 months in 2012 — including a period between January and March 2012 that saw average high temperatures 7.7 degrees above normal.

Here's the data from nearby Atlantic City International Airport in Egg Harbor Township, which generally sees slightly hotter temperatures than the barrier island of Ocean City but offers the best measure of local trends relative to other years.

The "normal" data is from the period between 1981 and 2010. 

Average High Temperatures by Month
(in degrees fahrenheit)