While the summer of 2012 was the third hottest on record for the continental United States, it was second to none for extreme weather, according to a summary released today by an advocacy group.

"With oppressive heat waves, devastating droughts, ravaging wildfires, and hard-hitting rainstorms, the summer of 2012 has been one for the record books," Climate Communication said in a news release.

The summer's average temperature of 74 degrees Fahrenheit was more than 2 degrees higher than the 20th-century average, and July was the hottest month ever recorded.

The group also pointed to costly U.S. droughts, Hurricane Isaac that hit the Gulf Coast in August, Tropical Storm Debby in June, and a heat-fueled derecho, or wind storm, that killed 22 in seven states and Washington, D.C.

Climate Communication linked these and other events to man-made climate change.

"Climate change has shifted the odds, altered the natural limits, and increased the severity of certain kinds of extreme weather. As a result, we are witnessing an increase in record-breaking extreme weather events," it said.