2016 was the third warmest year ever recorded in New Jersey

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Remember all those brutal heat waves last summer that had us literally dripping in sweat?

Turns out they were a big factor in making 2016 the third warmest year ever recorded in New Jersey.

NJ.com (https://bit.ly/2iQGVy9) reports that ranking was recently confirmed by New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson at Rutgers University, whose office analyzed climate data across each region of the Garden State dating back to 1895.

This year, which includes data through Dec. 29, New Jersey’s average temperature - calculated by averaging out the daily highs and daily lows - was 55.0 degrees, Robinson said. That ties 2006 as the state’s third warmest year on record, landing behind only 2012 and 1998.

In 2012 the state’s average temperature was 55.9 degrees, and in 1998 the mercury averaged 55.2 degrees, according to Robinson’s data.

Six of New Jersey’s top 10 warmest years on record all occurred since 2002, the statistics show. The other four warmest years in the top 10 were all in the 1990s.

That mirrors the global trend of warmer temperatures recorded across the planet during the past few decades. Although the final analysis won’t be complete until sometime in January, there’s a strong likelihood that 2016 will be Earth’s warmest year on record, according to climate scientists.

“There is no question that New Jersey has gotten warmer over the past several decades,” Robinson said this week. “The underlying cause for the warming is human modification of the climate system, namely greenhouse warming. Certainly there are year-to-year fluctuations of a natural kind, but these are taking place on a continually elevating foundation of higher temperatures brought on by humankind.”

Among the interesting monthly and seasonal stats that all played a role in New Jersey’s warm year were:

- The winter of 2015-2016 was the state’s 2nd mildest winter on record.

- The spring of 2016 was the state’s 10th warmest spring on record.

- The summer of 2016 was the state’s 2nd hottest summer on record.

- The fall of 2016 turned out to be the 6th mildest autumn on record.

- This year also had the hottest August on record, the 4th warmest March, the 4th warmest September and the 7th hottest July, Robinson said.

In addition to being unseasonably warm, 2016 turned out to be a dry year as well.

As of Dec. 29, New Jersey had a total of 39.92 inches of rain and melted snow, Robinson said in his annual climate summary. That is 6.44 inches below normal.

In nine of the 12 months of 2016, the state had below-normal precipitation, causing drinking water supplies to drop to alarming levels and prompting the state to declare a drought warning in 14 counties in late October.

Robinson said the rainfall totals in some places around the state were among the lowest in a century. Among them were Sussex Borough and the Charlotteburg section of West Milford, both of which had their 4th driest year in the past century, and the city of Cape May, which had its 12th driest year in about 100 years.

Although the final calculations haven’t been made, 2016 will likely go down as New Jersey’s 25th driest year on record.

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Information from: NJ.com, https://www.nj.com