Happy warm year: 2012 sets Phila. record

Bookended by an almost-snowless winter an extremely mild December, 2012 was the warmest year on record in Philadelphia.

The official average temperature at Philadelphia International Airport, 58.9, was a full 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the former champs, 1931 and 1998, according to the National Weather Service.

On the weather service top 12 list of warm years in Philadelphia in the period of record dating to 1874, eight have occurred since 1990.

Neither the global nor U.S. analyses have yet been posted by the National Climate Data Center, but 2012 was a particularly warm year in the contiguous 48 states, perhaps the warmest on record.

While it was quite mild in Philadelphia, 2012 wasn't particularly wet. In fact, at 35.94 inches, it was the driest since the drought year of 2001. The long-term average is 42.3 inches.

Here is the list of Philadelphia's 12 warmest years:

1 -- 58.9 2012

2 -- 58.2 1931

2 -- 58.2 1998

4 -- 58.1 1991

5 -- 57.8 2011

6 -- 57.7 2010

7 -- 57.6 1990

7 -- 57.6 2002

7 -- 57.6 2006

10 -- 57.2 1921

10 -- 57.2 1932

10 -- 57.2 2001