The year 2012 was one for the record books.
The National Weather Service announced that last year was the warmest on record in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, with the average temperature for the year of 53 degrees. It beat 1921, when the average was 52.4 degrees.
The average temperature is determined by taking the average of highs and lows for each day, said Joanne LaBounty, meteorologist for the National Weather Service. The weather service has recorded temperatures for the area since 1901, she said. Temperatures currently are recorded at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
Last year saw few cold spells like the one hitting Northeast Pennsylvania this week.
The beginning of January 2012 saw some lows in the single digits. The low on Jan. 3 was 7 degrees, and the low on Jan. 4 was 5 degrees, Ms. LaBounty said. Aside from those days, however, January was an unusually warm month.
Mike Pigott, meteorologist at AccuWeather, attributes the record to particular months in 2012 that were "abnormally warm," including January and March.
He said he wouldn't attribute the record to global warming. He instead pointed to how many people classify last year as "the year without a winter."
The warmest year follows the region's wettest ever recorded. In 2011, 59.99 inches of precipitation fell at the local airport. The next-highest total is from 1945, when 53.71 inches of precipitation was recorded.
Contact the writer: shazen@timesshamrock.com