2012 2nd warmest year on record at Caribou Maine

2012 ended up as the 2^nd warmest year on record at Caribou. This is somewhat deceptive as weather records began in 1939 and therefore did not include the entire warm decade of the 1930s. If one is to look at Bangor where weather records include the entire decade of the 1930s this past year ranked as only the 10^th warmest on record. Seven of the top 10 warmest years on record at Bangor were in the 1930s. If we had a longer period of record at Caribou it is quite possible that 2012 would have ranked much further down on the list. At Houlton, 2012 ranked as the 4^th warmest on record. Weather records at Houlton began in 1949, so once again they did not include the warm decade of the 1930s.

2012 was the warmest year on record for twenty-three of the thirty-five major climate sites in the Northeast. Burlington, VT, had the greatest departure above their old record. The city reported an annual temperature of 50.0°, beating their old record, set in 1998, by 1.6°. Of the sites that broke the record, Scranton, PA, and Williamsport, PA, had the longest-standing record. Scranton was 0.7° warmer in 2012 and Williamsport was 0.1° warmer in 2012 than the previous warmest year, 1921. Syracuse, NY, broke an old record by a fair amount with 2012 coming in 1.1° warmer than the previous warmest year, 1931.