2012: Warmest Year on Record!

Nearly end to end above normal temperatures for the year, really kicked off during the historic March heat-wave, resulted in almost all of northern Michigan experiencing their warmest year in recorded history.

Although precipitation varied across the area, northern Michigan avoided the historic drought that plagued (and continues to do so) much of the nation, with most areas falling well within the realm of normal. The above normal temperatures did continue the now multi-year trend of below normal snowfall for much of the area. Houghton Lake was the one exception, a result of above normal snow last winter season.

2012 Temperature Data:

**Sault Ste Marie (1888 - 2012)**
2012 Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date	Coolest Temp/Date	Previous Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
45.7	41.7	+4.0	Warmest	91 / August 4th	-9 / March 5th*	45.5 / 1998	35.3 / 1917

**Houghton Lake (1919 - 2012)**
2012 Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date	Coolest Temp/Date	Previous Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
47.8	43.4	+4.4	Warmest	95 / July 6th*	-3 / March 5th	47.5 / 1931	41.1 / 1972

**Alpena (1916 - 2012)**
2012 Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date	Coolest Temp/Date	Previous Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
47.2	43.5	+3.7	Warmest	95 / August 4th*	-4 / January 21st	46.5 / 1998	40.0 / 1924

**Traverse City Cherry Capital Airport (1897 - 2012)**
2012 Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date	Coolest Temp/Date	Previous Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
50.1	45.3	+4.8	Warmest	98 / July 16th	0 / January 21st	49.6 / 1921	42.0 / 1917

**Gaylord** **COOP** **(1951 - 2001); Gaylord Airport (2001-2012)**
2012 Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date	Coolest Temp/Date	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
46.1	42.4	+3.7	Tied 2nd Warmest	92 / July 5th	-17 / March 5th	46.5 / 1973	41.7 / 1993

2012 Precipitation Data (inches):

**Sault Ste Marie (1888 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
29.40	32.95	-3.55	N/A	45.84 / 1995	20.69 / 1925

**Houghton Lake (1919 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
33.32	28.75	+4.57	N/A	41.34 / 1951	20.02 / 2002

**Alpena (1916 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
27.89	28.16	-0.27	N/A	38.81 / 1954	20.21 / 1999

**Traverse City Airport (1930 - 1993); Traverse City COOP (2001 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
37.14	34.30	+2.84	5th Wettest	40.28 / 1942	20.85 / 1935

**Gaylord Cooperative Observing Station (1940 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
35.44	36.21	-0.77	N/A	45.81 / 1995	24.43 / 1955

Gaylord, MI (APX): Full Year 2012 Observed Precipitation Valid at 1/1/2013 1200 UTC - Created 1/2/13 21:44 UTC

Gaylord, MI (APX): Full Year 2012 Percent of Normal Precipitation Valid at 1/1/2013 1200 UTC - Created 1/2/13 21:48 UTC

2012 Snowfall Data (inches):

**Sault Ste Marie (1888 - 2012)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
119.0	120.4	-1.4	N/A	209.2 / 1995	55.6 / 2010

**Houghton Lake (1919 - 2012)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
89.9	66.6	+23.3	N/A	116.7 / 1971	28.5 / 2010

**Alpena (1916 - 2012)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
61.8	84.3	-22.5	N/A	149.2 / 1985	45.3 / 1925

**Traverse City Airport (1930 - 1993); Traverse City COOP (2001 - 2012)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
69.4	101.4	-32.0	N/A	179.3 / 1985	36.2 / 1934

**Gaylord Cooperative Observing Station (1940 - 2012)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
122.8	141.4	-18.6	N/A	210.0 / 1971	64.3 / 2010

- all averages are calculated using the new 1981 - 2010 period

( ) = Consistent years of record; Record temperature data for Gaylord is a combination of Gaylord Airport (2001-2011) and the Cooperative Observing Station records (1951-2001), Record precipitation data for Traverse City is a combination of Cherry Capital Airport (1930-1993) and the Cooperative Observing Station records (2001-2011)

- only rankings in the top 10 will be entered

* = Record occurred in multiple years/dates; latest year/date shown

**THESE DATA ARE PRELIMINARY AND HAVE NOT UNDERGONE FINAL QUALITY CONTROL BY THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER. THEREFORE, THESE DATA ARE SUBJECT TO REVISION. FINAL AND CERTIFIED CLIMATE DATA CAN BE ACCESSED AT WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV.*

For additional climate information and atmospheric and oceanic features that drive the patterns across our area, please visit the following links:

Latest Central Pacific Ocean Temperature Trends Large Scale Atmospheric Blocking Features Local Climate Home Page Latest Drought Information

* Data for Traverse City is derived from a composite of observations taken at both Cherry Capital Airport and the cooperative observing station at Munson Medical Center. This data is for informational purposes only and does not meet climatological standards. This data set may include periods with missing data…particularly snowfall data from 1996-2001.

**Data for Gaylord is derived from a composite of observations taken at both Gaylord-Otsego County Airport and the cooperative observing station located near downtown Gaylord. This data is for informational purposes only and does not meet climatological standards. This data set may include periods with missing data and data that has been recorded from different observing points throughout history.

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office