LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Texans just survived their warmest year ever, and 2012 also ended the state's warmest two-year span.
National Climate Data Center numbers released Tuesday had 2012's statewide average temperature tied with 1921 at 67.4 degrees.
The combined temperature average for the past two years - 2012 and 2011 - was 67.3 degrees, making them the warmest consecutive years dating to 1895.
Texas had its driest year ever in 2011. Add in a 24.6-inch statewide average for 2012, and Texas had its third-driest two-year span on record. For those two years, the state got just 71 percent of the normal rainfall of 55.9 inches.
2012 was the 32nd driest in 118 years of record-keeping.
The state was forecast to have the best rainfall in months in coming days.
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