2012 was the warmest year on record for Chicago - FOX 35 News Orlando

2012 went down in the books as the warmest on record for Chicago, Rockford, and even for the lower 48 United States.

The average high temperature for 2012 was 63.8 degrees which is 4.7 degrees above the 1981 to 2010 average.

The average low temperature was 45.1 degrees which is 4.3 degrees above the 1981-2010 average.

The average annual temperature for 2012 in Chicago was 54.5 degrees. That broke the old record of 54.4 degrees set back in 1921.

There were 24 temperature related records either broken or tied throughout 2012.

We had the warmest March on record with eight days in the 80s and the third warmest July on record with three days in the 100s. We ended up with a total of four days at or above 100 degrees.

The record for the greatest number of 100 degree days in a year for Chicago is eight, set back in 1988.

In terms of precipitation, 2012 went down as 16th driest on record with 26.91".

Chicago received only 19.0" of snow which is 17.3" below normal.

2013 has started out rather cold for Chicago. In fact, O'Hare dropped to 10 degrees by the morning of January 2nd. This is the coldest low temperature at O'Hare since February 11th, 2012. That's 325 days.

Not much snow is the forecast at least through mid-January and temperatures are expected to climb into the 40s by next week.