Akron is setting records with its 2012 temperatures.
The average hourly temperature for the first nine months of the year is the warmest on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its National Climatic Data Center reported Tuesday.
The average temperature from January through September at the Akron-Canton Airport in the city of Green was 57.3 degrees.
That is 4.5 degrees above average, the center reported.
The average temperature in the Akron-Canton area from 1981-2010 was 52.8 degrees.
The 57.3 degrees is the warmest average temperature in 64 years of records for the Akron area, the center said.
A total of 109 of 180 American cities with permanent long-term weather stations are on track to record their warmest year, the center reported. Among those cities are Cleveland, 57.6 degrees, 3.5 degrees above average; Columbus, 60.4 degrees, 3.9 degrees above average; Cincinnati, 61.0 degrees, 3.5 degrees above average; and Toledo, 56.8 degrees, 3.5 degrees above average.
Youngstown is having its second-warmest year. Its average hourly temperature is 55.6 degrees, 3.8 degrees above average.
Statewide, both 2012 and 1921 had average hourly temperatures 4 degrees above normal, the center said.
The third-warmest year on record was 1998, with an average temperature 3.5 degrees above normal.
The 2012 summer season — from April through September — was the eighth warmest on record in Ohio with the average temperature 2.2 degrees above normal, the center said.
Nationally, September was the 16th consecutive month in which temperatures have been above normal, the center said. The average temperature in the United States was 3.8 degrees above normal, the warmest on record in 118 years from 1895 through 2012.
It was also the warmest summer season on record, with the average hourly temperature being 2.6 degrees above normal, the center said.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaocnjournal.com.