Hottest, Driest, Stormiest Year?

I get what they mean, but it just seems a bit conflicting. But right now it's 26 degrees outside, and I'm not exactly thinking it's a warmer year than usual. It just seemed like the usual muggy as all crap summer that Tennessee and the rest of the southeast is used to.

And to all the enviro-hippies that think Bush is a nature killing evil man, Kyoto would have the US decrease greenhouse gases by 5% by 2012, Bush wants our emissions to drop 18% by 2012. Who's looking out for the environment now?

Source: Yahoo News