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Has the climate in Duluth changed?

Duluth has warmed about 1.6°F between 1971 and 2023.

About 0.3°F per decade, measured from Duluth's official daily weather records, 1971–2023. Individual years still bounce around — some recent ones came in cool — but the long-term line has clearly risen.

Is that a lot? Duluth's climate has warmed more slowly than most other cities in United States.

What has actually changed

Each card compares the 1970s (the first ten years of the record) with recent years (the last ten) — the same span the headline and the chart use.

Freezing nights
13 fewer nights
1970s
73 / yr
Recent
60 / yr
Milder winters — fewer frosts
Average temperature
+1.1°F
1970s
59.7°F
Recent
60.7°F
A steady upward drift
Hot days above 90°F
1 more day
1970s
43 / yr
Recent
44 / yr
More days of serious heat
Rainy days
about the same
1970s
100 / yr
Recent
101 / yr
Rainfall pattern about the same

Duluth's temperature, year by year

Average temperature for each year from 1971 to 2023.

53°55°57°59°61°63°65°1971: 59.1°F1972: 59.0°F1973: 58.2°F1974: 54.9°F1975: 61.0°F1976: 60.0°F1977: 63.2°F1978: 61.2°F1979: 60.0°F1980: 60.3°F1981: 58.3°F1982: 59.2°F1983: 57.8°F1984: 58.7°F1985: 60.2°F1986: 62.2°F1987: 61.0°F1988: 60.2°F1989: 60.1°F1990: 63.1°F1991: 62.0°F1992: 60.2°F1993: 61.2°F1994: 62.0°F1995: 61.0°F1996: 60.9°F1997: 60.7°F1998: 63.5°F1999: 61.9°F2000: 61.5°F2003: 59.6°F2004: 60.5°F2005: 60.2°F2006: 61.0°F2007: 61.4°F2008: 59.5°F2009: 59.4°F2010: 59.7°F2011: 62.1°F2012: 62.5°F2013: 58.7°F2014: 54.2°F2015: 61.3°F2016: 63.4°F2017: 60.1°F2018: 61.8°F2019: 62.8°F2020: 61.5°F2021: 61.9°F2022: 61.1°F2023: 61.1°Flong-term trend1971198019902000201020202023
a warmer-than-average year a cooler-than-average year

Each bar is one year. Most recent years sit above the older ones. Some recent years still came in cool — warming is a slope, not a straight climb.

In day-to-day terms, that long-term shift shows up as about 6 fewer freezing nights a year and about 3 fewer days above 90°F compared with the 1970s.

When in the year the change shows up

How much warmer each month is now than in the 1970s. Useful if you garden or care about a particular season — otherwise the headline above already has the answer.

-0.5°0.0°+0.5°+1.0°January: +0.7°F+0.7JFebruary: +0.4°F+0.4FMarch: -0.0°F-0.0MApril: +0.1°F+0.1AMay: +0.9°F+0.9MJune: +0.5°F+0.5JJuly: +0.2°F+0.2JAugust: +0.7°F+0.7ASeptember: +0.4°F+0.4SOctober: +0.8°F+0.8ONovember: -0.3°F-0.3NDecember: -0.0°F-0.0D

May has warmed the most — about 0.9°F. The warming runs across the whole year, not just one season.

Methodology & sources

Temperature — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Commerce 4 Nnw (NOAA GHCN station USC00092180), about 67 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →