WENATCHEE — Maybe we should welcome the New Year weather, with these dull, overcast skies and average January temperatures.

Especially after 2012, when North Central Washington figured prominently into the National Weather Service’s annual summary posted this week on its website.

Here are some of those highlights:

January: A Pacific storm brought 10 to 15 inches of snow to the Methow Valley on Jan. 25, followed by up to one-quarter inch of freezing rain on Jan. 29. That sure made for some fun driving.

February: While the month was fairly average, a storm late in the month brought 4 to 7 inches, making it the second snowiest event of the winter.

March: On March 12, several areas saw their coldest temperatures since records have been kept. Plain made it to 34 degrees, and got 7.2 inches of snow, while Leavenworth got 10 inches. On March 15, Grand Coulee picked up 1.5 inches of rain, the third wettest dating back to 1934, while on the same day Wenatchee reached a high of only 38 degrees, making it the coldest daytime temperature for that day. And on March 27, Pangborn Memorial Airport got .62 inch of rain, the third wettest in March ever, since 1959 records started.

April: Pangborn Memorial Airport set more records, this time for high temperatures — 82 degrees on April 22, and 87 degrees on April 23. Yes, April.

May: A high temperature of 52 in Wenatchee on May 3 was the coldest ever for that date. Then, on May 15, the Wenatchee airport set a record high for that date of 91 degrees.

June: Once again, Wenatchee set a coldest daytime temperature record of 57 degrees on June 7. Meanwhile, Winthrop, Mazama and Waterville had overnight freezing temperatures. Then Grand Coulee got another rainstorm for the record books — 1.23 inches on June 26.

July: More records: Wenatchee hit 103 degrees on July 8, a record high for that date. Then, on July 15, over 2 inches of rain fell in Omak, taking out chunks of Highway 97 near Malott, and bringing debris-damaged roads elsewhere.

August: The National Weather Service says it was “rather boring,” although it was the hottest month in the inland Northwest in five years.

September: A dry lightning storm on Sept. 8 followed by strong winds on Sept. 9 and 10 made September one of Wenatchee’s most memorable. Strong inversions then trapped smoke in the valleys, and “Some of the worst conditions were noted in Wenatchee, where the visibility was less than 1 mile on several days,” the agency reported.

October: Dry is the only word for it. “The period from Aug. 1 through Oct. 11 was the driest on record at Wenatchee, Ephrata, Omak and Quincy,” it said. “Wenatchee Airport recorded 84 consecutive days without measurable rain through Oct. 12.” But by late October, things started to cool off, and on Oct. 23, locations outside Winthrop recorded 2.3 inches of snow. On Oct. 26, the high at the Wenatchee airport was only 43 degrees, a record for that date. “Just three days later, the temperature warmed to 68 degrees, which was a record high for that day.”

November: Some of the first real snow fell in many locations, including Ephrata, which picked up 5 inches on Nov. 8.

December: Snow, in fairly typical amounts, has been December’s story, with some areas missing the white stuff in favor of rain. Still, Leavenworth got 7.5 inches on Dec. 7; the Waterville Plateau got 4 inches on Dec. 15; and Wenatchee and surrounding areas picked some up on Dec. 17 — including 15.5 inches at Leavenworth.

But overall, North Central Washington’s weather in 2012 was anything but typical. Wenatchee’s high temperature was 0.8 degrees higher than average, which is 63.2 degrees, and its low temperature was 1.8 degrees higher than average, which is 42.5 degrees.

Wenatchee also saw 1.41 inches more in precipitation than average, which is 10.04 inches, but 1.3 inches less in the form of snowfall, which averages 24.5 inches annually.

K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512

mehaffey@wenatcheeworld.com