The first seven months of 2012 were the warmest the U.S. Northeast has seen since recordkeeping began in 1895.

So says the Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) at Cornell University, adding to a string of data showing record-smashing temperatures amid the country's worst heat wave and drought in more than 50 years.

The average temperature regionally was 49.9 degrees Fahrenheit from January through July, the warmest on record for the 12-state Northeast, except for Pennsylvania and West Virginia. For those two states, it was the second-hottest such seven-month period, according to data released Tuesday.

Several locations set all-time high temperature records, NRCC said. Baltimore set a record on July 18 of 104 degrees, beating its old record of 102 degrees set in 1887. Washington's National Airport recorded an all-time high of 105 degrees on July 7, breaking its 2010 record of 102 degrees.

Temperatures for the past 12 months were also the hottest on record for the Northeast, except for West Virginia, which missed the record-breaking average temperature of 54.7 degrees by 0.1 degrees, NRCC said.