America's hottest year ever: By the numbers

You weren't imagining it: 2012 was a scorcher — and the hottest year on record in the continental United States, according to official numbers released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Here's a numerical look at the record-setting year:

55.3

Average temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, across the continental U.S. in 2012. That's a full degree Fahrenheit higher than the previous record set in 1998, and is 3.3 degrees above the 20th century average.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

34,008

Daily high records set at weather stations across the country in 2012

100

Percent of the 10 warmest years on record that have occurred over the last 15 years

1985

The last time the monthly global temperature fell below the 20th century average. (It happened in February 1985.) That means no one under 28 has ever experienced a cooler-than-usual month.

16

Months in a row — from June 2011 to September 2012 — that average U.S. temperatures were above their normal monthly averages. (So June 2011 was hotter than your typical June, July 2011 was hotter than your typical July, and so forth.) That hasn't occurred since the government began keeping records in 1895.

7

Percentage of the U.S. that experienced an all-time hottest day ever last year

61

Percentage of the nation plagued by drought in 2012, which obliterated corn and soybean crops and sent prices sky high

9.2 million

Acres that burned due to wildfire in 2012

228

Days of the year with higher-than-normal temperatures in New York

247

Days of the year with higher-than-normal temperatures in Washington, D.C.

245

Days of the year with higher-than-normal temperatures in Chicago

221

Days of the year with higher-than-normal temperatures in Houston

187

Days of the year with higher-than-normal temperatures in Los Angeles

Sources: New York Times (2),NOAA, Scientific American, Washington Post, WUnderground